Rating: NNN
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When used properly (viz. Eleni Mandell), that whole noirish femme fatale mystique shtick can have marvellous results. Unfortunately, the seductive coquette persona will only take you so far, especially if you have neither the pipes nor the lyrical intrigue to back it up. I feel for Ambrosia Parsley – she’s got a killer name, and siren-calibre looks, but when she tries to sing torch songs in her cloying little-girl-lost purr, she sounds like Shirley Temple playing Betty Boop in an old-time cartoon parody of hard-boiled thrillers. The eyelash-batting narratives in her tunes don’t do much to help things. Yikes. I dig some of the arrangements here – the Sex Mob jazz backing on Lost In A Dream hints at the smoky sex appeal these tracks should have – but they don’t make up for Shivaree’s other shortcomings.
Shivaree hit Lula Lounge tonight (Thursday, February 17).
