Vanessa Liftig
When Will Is Silent
Eld Records

Vanessa Liftig was a guest on rapper Embee's solo record and got some attention for that. Her debut solo record is a very intimate-sounding, bare record.

No big gestures for this singer. Her soft, jazzy style recalls a young Stina Nordenstam. "Slow Seconds" is a nice little song with fretless bass and guitar framing Liftig's curiously timid ode to lust. 'Shivering I seek your lips And tongue meets tongue Desire meets desire', she intones. Someone else would sing this with a touch of fervor, but Liftig's shyness has an appeal of its own.

"Simplified" is like a charcoal sketch of song, so bare is it. 'I'm so beautifully simplified', she sings, aptly describing her sound. "My Darling you" is as cute as a purring kitten. Liftig sings her words of love to a minimal backing. "When Will is Silent" is apparently about some boy named Will rather than the word. The music's sweet and the saxophone adds a nice touch. This album ends with a long wait for the bonus track, I thought artists were past that sort of a thing by now. Still, it's a promising debut and Liftig has real talent.

Copyright © 2005 Anna Maria Stjärnell