Winner of the Loot Music Awards 2000, Lindsey Thompson's debut album, 'Room In A Basement', affirms such an accolade by proving to be a real surprise. And she has rather a lot going for her.
With songs that mingle Indigo Girls' vocalisations with delightfully listenable instrumentation (there really should be more Wurlitzers in the world), each song sounds unique from the last and Thompson's voice is the equal of any Alanis Morissette, Beverly Craven, Joni Mitchell or Indigo Girl out there.
Voice aside, she is also blessed with a photogenic face and excellent taste in music, listening as she does to The Divine Comedy and listing Joni Mitchell and her uncle, Fairport Convention founder Richard Thompson, as her big influences.
'Charlie' is a delightful ballad of piano and vocals, delivered as effectively as the best Ms Craven could offer, while much of the rest of the album's production is up-tempo and screams "SINGLE!" at the listener; strange, this, as the songs do not affirm the production's statements.
The title track smacks of 'La Isla Bonita' but for grown-ups and there must be admiration unbound for her nod to Oscar Wilde with 'What's Wrong With That', a song with the choicest line of the entire recording - "I think I'm turning into my mother - what's wrong that?" All women may well become like their mothers, Oscar, but Lindsdey's mother must be a philosopher of sorts, as Lindsey suggests that we are all part of a continuous chain in a never-ending universe. Unfortunately, she seems to run out of words to carry on this philosophy in 'What's Wrong With That' - at around three and a half minutes, it sounds roughly a minute too long for the lyrics it contains.
It is not clear how much of the album is the responsibility of co-writer Rob Derbyshire, but both he and Thompson can feel proud of themselves for a terrific showcase of what they are able to produce.
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