Confetti

Album review

Little Birdy are a powerhouse on the Australian charts, but it seems that the group has done so largely by staying in the middle, by catering to the masses as it were. The songs are all relatively simple -- the lyrics are simultaneously vague and complex and the melodies are straightforward, with the pieces all anchored entirely around Katy Steele's vocals. Steele has a fair voice, and uses it well on the album, but the impression isn't so much of the power of her voice but rather her relative lack of emotion. She stretches her sounds out just a bit, with a lot of similarity to Gwen Stefani's more nuanced works, but without the signs of nuance. All of this doesn't make for a bad album, but it does make for a seemingly hollow one, like a modern incarnation of adult contemporary music. There are still a few interesting pieces: the off-kilter, loping "Dark of Night"; the opening "Brother," with its tones of acoustic country. Just not enough for the album to carry the listener along for the full span.

© Adam Greenberg /TiVo