Album Notes

'High Gloss, Low Sheen' starts off simple and sparse with "Hold it in Your Hand." Just voice and piano, it's stark and potent. Next is "Dirty Magazines"..."don't you know they make it hard...for the girl next door not to be hardcore when she's in her own back yard." This is a well crafted song with a well crafted punch line that will have radio programmers holding their breath. Track 3, "Child of this World" is driving, and rich with instrumentation (Ian Caliendo on mbira) and vocal layering. In some ways, this song is the hard hitter with it's hooks, freewheelin' phrasing, pop sensibility and powerfully dissonant under-and-over-tones, both lyrically and musically. The next track, Love Comes Easily, is again simple and well crafted; the delivery is intimate, the movement of the guitar line playful, and the message bittersweet - reminiscent in ways of early Tom Waits. Finally, "One by One" is joyfully dichotomous with a rough and almost-ready production quality. The listener will undoubtedly look forward to the full length album to follow.