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Album reviews Music

Shelley O’Brien – Vivarium

SHELLEY O’BRIEN plays the Drake October 13. See listing. Rating: NNN


Though she made a name for herself with ukulele renditions of her songs on YouTube, Toronto-based singer/songwriter Shelley O’Brien is actually more of a multi-instrumentalist. The former cruise liner pianist plays Casio, Rhodes, harpsichord, accordion and glockenspiel on her sophomore disc, while producer Matthew Rogers handles most of the rest.

The result is a collection of electro-folk-pop songs about love, nature and found objects. It works best when O’Brien shows off her theatrical side, like on the briskly shuffling Turn To Spring and the uplifting Swiftly, We Go, and is less effective on slower tunes like Valse A La Pluie. Layering, samples, delays and loops are cool, but sometimes the background static and hushed vocals covered with overdubs grow tiring. It’d be good to hear a more assertive O’Brien backed by a live band.

Top track: Swiftly, We Go

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