Fiona Silver’s “Little Thunder” Is A Perfect Dark Sparkle [Album Review]

“People are like stained – glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

With this said, Fiona Silver’s voice will draw you in like a sparkle in the darkness. As you listen to the rich and complex layers Silver can emote, something etherial mixes with the sounds of  Rock n Roll and Soul. There is a hint of Grunge and 60’s pop in the air (and some other spices too) and Silver’s light emerges like a flash of lightening in the distance. As you hear “Little Thunder” from the darkness, she reveals a sultry and smoldering silhouette of a black sequin dress that fits perfect and accentuates all the right places.

From the first toe tapping track “Keep it Fresh” you might think a dream has set in and you can float into her world. It’s a song about taking vengeance by looking good after a rough break up and gals are going reach for you’re own perfect black dress and red lipstick, for this is a world were you just want to look good no matter how bad you feel.

While all the tracks feel like they are missing from the “Twin Peaks” sound track for Silver’s world is a deeply emotional world where relationships can be extreme, none of the tracks exemplify this more then “Smoking Gun”.

Foot on the peddle, wind in my hair

Back seat lover, did you think I don’t care?

Did it get ya high? Did it get ya high? Did it get ya high?

Lit up a smoke and did ya pull her hair?

Was her skin as soft, eyes white like snow?

Oh why? Did it get ya high? Did it get ya high? Did it get ya high?

I can see the smoking gun, I can hear the screaming come

I can feel the ringing hum oooooooooooooooooooooooo”

“Take Me Down”, “Love Grenade” and “Sick Of Being Good” are in constant play on my iPod. They exemplify how much this sound has been missing from todays music landscape. Listening to “Little Thunder,” one theme starts to rise, all of the tracks draw from an emotional intensity that a lot of song-writers shy away from in order to appeal to an anesthetized mass audience. Silver’s music seems to say, “Fuck it.  Get lost in someone and pay the consequences. After all, if you’re going to jump into a broken heart, you might as well enjoy the fall.  Go ahead, you’re strong enough to pick yourself up and keep going.  Taking a risk isn’t going to destroy you, it’s only going to make you stronger.”

What Silver has done is create a contemporary album in a genre that has been left at the back of the closet. It’s like rediscovering that coat you forgot about, and when you put it back on you really can’t think of a good reason you stopped wearing it. To be perfectly clear, this album is not an homage. This music … this album … is Silver’s truth, for “Little Thunder” is, simply put, a perfect dark sparkle.

We have been making a of habit of following Silver around for the past month and she has allowed us unprecedented access to her adventures all the way from NYC to Nashville and were lucky enough to have a front row seat at her album release at the Roxy Hotel. We know this gal is going to go the distance, so don’t get run over, just get out of the way.

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