It is literally impossible to review every CD that comes through WomensRadio, but it feels soooooooo good to present the first album review of 2010 – and who better to cut the ribbon than Holland-born Canadian singer/songwriter, Yo Vanderkley, or better known simply as Yo, with her 2009 release titled Strange Life.

To sum up Strange Life in one sentence, we would say that the CD comes with a halo hanging around it.  Ranging from the subtle jazz/pop introduction of “Every Second Tuesday” to the ballad, “Heel Vreemd” (translated to English as “Very Strange”), Yo’s hickory smoke voice spins honest and upbeat tales of life, love and heartbreak.  

While emitting an emotional aura all throughout, Strange Life features several standout tracks, such as “Slow Kiss”, which showcases Yo’s strong blues/jazz styled vocals coupled with minimal percussion and contemporary progression to place the listener in a ballroom dance floor setting, much like that in Beauty and The Beast, and sets them spinning into “high-caliber contemporary” oblivion.  

“Lucky In Love” gets a little funky, and features a slide guitar, while maintaining strong pop sensibility with impressive, and sometimes metaphorical, lyrics, innovative guitar playing and a heartfelt approach to the ultimate human desire – love.   Short after follows a track titled, “Ella”, which is another bright and cheerful number worth checking out.  It is probably the most likely song on the album to receive “anthem” status.  Boy could she dance, that Ella.  

Several times throughout Strange Life, the listener hears sounds reminiscent of The Beatles.  The title track of the album shows this influence in a light confirming Yo as a master of her art.  A master that writes with a hilariously altruistic perspective on life, suggesting through her lyrics that, “We should start at 95 years old and rewind to the night”, and bold enough to mix it up musically with an almost Hawaiian vibe on the track.

Our personal favorite, and instantly-claimed “Favorite Original Jazz Song of 2010”, “You, Me And Your Horn” starts with a sexy bass intro and is brought to life through John McLeod’s trumpet and Yo’s smoldering hot vocals that fill the room like thick cigar smoke…picture musical notes gently floating through the clouded air, gently spinning on their axes as they effortless float on by.

“All in all, the strange life of Yo Vanderkley is one that is both intriguing and inspirational—one that is not to be overlooked.” – Brian Ball, Music Editor
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Do yourself a favour and listen carefully to this cd. I can’t decide what I enjoy more, the seductive sensuality of Yo’s jazz infused pieces like "Slow Kiss" and "You, Me and Your Horn", the storytelling of tracks like "Dinosaur" or the humour and insights about this strange life in pieces like "Darling, Come to Bed". A find!
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Brutal honesty in lyric, combined with subtle flowing musical 
verse. 
Yohanna is the proverbial ' Iron fist inside the Velvet Glove '.
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