Album Notes

Philadelphia locals may recognize Adrien Reju’s lilting voice and classic Renoir good looks from her work with bluegrass outfit The Lowlands and rootsy trio Angel Band. Now, on solo debut A Million Hearts, Reju waxes in a new style, burnishing her timeless sensibility into laid-back sparkly pop that registers on the familiarity meter somewhere between Feist and Petula Clark. Reju’s classically trained voice (she was a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s children’s choir) does crazy things here in the pop life, rising steady and high and then parachuting softly into the phrasing. The new songs (including a fun cover of the euphemistically optimistic Melanie’s “Brand New Key”) swish along with big harmonies and handclaps, holding a jaunty walk-along vibe where the living is breezy and hearts rise like little hot air balloons on the first day of spring. (Tara Murtha, Philadelphia Weekly)