author: Darren Hollywood Paltrowitz-The L.I.E.
Songs like "24 Hours (in a day)" and "All That I Got" will show Rebekka
to mentally be beyond her 21 years. Her music is as equally intense as
it is smart and sweet, and her live performance of "Love Has Taken It's
Toll" on the album's eighth track shows that she's lively as well.
Somewhere between Sarah McLaughlin, Annie Lennox, Pat Benetar and Dido,
she just radiates pure talent through her lyricism. Then again, her
guitar playing isn't too shabby either. Sounds like she's using some
very interesting tunings. A strong, smooth voice and an entertaining
release like "Strangey Innocent" should get Rebekka Carol far, very far
in fact.
-Darren "Hollywood" Paltrowitz, The Long Island Entertaiment
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author: Jennifer Layton-Indie-Music.com
Artist: Rebekka Carol
CD: Strangely Innocent
Home: Long Island, New York
Style: Folk/Rock
Quote: "A promising talent like this can’t help but explore and evolve".
By Jennifer Layton
Rebekka Carol has a haunting voice, echoing wisdom from years of seeing more than most people her age have seen. She fled her troubled home life when she was only sixteen and wandered the country, broke and without direction. For many runaway teens, the story ends somewhere on that road.
But Carol had musical gifts and had been playing guitar for a few years. She began writing songs about her experiences and playing wherever she could. The result of these efforts is her debut CD, Strangely Innocent. Now the 21-year-old is playing NYC clubs like The C Note and shopping for a label deal.
Strangely Innocent is a collection of folk/rock sung from the heart of an old soul. Her voice trembles with vulnerability in places, but those tremors are deceptive. She has emerged from her experiences with quiet triumph and the courage to give us glimpses into her past:
We're all wasted, a life too ordinary,
We'd climb a mountain to get high,
Aside the powerless people that run our lives...
The music ranges from the beautiful, flowing acoustic folk of "Life Too Ordinary" to the gathering storm clouds of the title track. She tells her stories, she examines her past, and she confronts old ghosts:
You told me you had lied when I was just a child,
You told me nothing's sacred,
And it wasn't your intention to be someone full of secrets...
If there is one drawback to the CD, it's that the songs need distinct personalities. They all have a similar sound. I'd like to hear her experiment with different styles, jump outside the box more. Brainstorm. But she has plenty of time for that. A promising talent like this can't help but explore and evolve.
Perhaps the most promising sign of all comes from the final track, "Love Has Taken Its Toll," which was recorded live in the studios of Connecticut's WPKN. From the emotional turmoil of her past, Carol has emerged with a CD that is now gaining radio airplay. Her story is a perfect illustration of how we are all given special gifts to help us survive the hard times. Thank goodness Rebekka Carol found hers.
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author: Carol Anne Szel-The Inside Connection
Strangely Innocent is catchy and possitive, with a sound based on Rebekka
Carol's vocals, which combine a modern day Phoebe Snow feel, prominent
on "Life Too Ordinary", with a sort of Alanis Morrisette take, which is
especially evident on "You're so Different" and "Strangely Innocent."
Don't get me wrong, Rebekka Carol's sound is original, and handling
acoustic guitar along with vocals, she is both grippng and laid back.
Accompianied by Brian Lupo on electric guitar, Strangely Innocent offers
up songs in a refreshingly positive way without the poppish and cliche
genre present. The CD wispily carries us from cut to cut on a bevy of
tunes that lyrically enlist the the listener in a world of endless
possibilities.
The music is definately viable in todays market, and with the gaines
that today's woman have made going head to head with males, Carol has
great potential, wthout a doubt. -Carol Anne Szel
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About the CD "Strangely Innocent" by Rebekka Carol
author: Pat Rogers-the Southampton Press
Review from The Southampton Press - April 19, 2001
Front Page of Sunday's Arts and Living
"...The sweet melodies and acoustic guitar playing found on the "Strangely Innocent" CD and in Ms Carol's live performances seem far removed from what one might expect to hear as the result of living hand to mouth with no money , no prospects and no plan....The ability to see good despite deceptive appearances is captured succinctly on her title track, "Strangely Innocent." Demonstrating consistency that carries over from her live performances to the recorded songs, Ms Carol sings in a sweet, lyrical voice that is subtly infused with strength..."
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