Bertie Blackman - Secrets and Lies
By Nick Manteris · 0 Comments · Leave a Comment
Australian singer-songwriter Bertie Blackman continues to evolve musically on her third album, Secrets and Lies, by focusing more on keyboards and electronic sounds in much the same way that she displaced the folk elements with rock on her second album.
The songs on this album vary wildly and suggest either a wide range of influences, an extreme desire for experimentation or massive amounts of creativity …or possibly all of the above. Some of the artists that came to mind while listening were Imogen Heap (“Sky Is Falling”), Goldfrapp (“Black Cats”), Aimee Allen (“Thump”) and either the Sundays or Innocence Mission (“Shout Out”). The strings in “White Owl” were reminiscent of Rasputina and the delivery on “Come to Bed” has a definite Suzanne Vega quality. The highlights of Secrets and Lies are “Thump,” “Heart,” “Come to Bed” and “Baby Teeth,” which sounds like a crunchy electro combo of Siouxsie and Rock Steady-era No Doubt. The diversity of sound could easily result in an album that is all over the place, but it actually works here…in fact, the only part that doesn’t work is the beginning of “Byrds of Prey.”
- Score
- 80%
Bertie Blackman is definitely an artist to watch and Secrets and Lies is one of the top ten albums released so far in 2009.
