Though I’m Young and Cynical it’s Not My Only Crime

Holly Brook may strike up images of a local creek, but the twenty year old is currently invading your radio singing the haunting chorus to Fort Minor’s Where’d You Go. But don’t expect any hip hop beats or guest spots from Mike Shinoda or other rappers on her debut, Like Blood Like Honey. Instead the album is strictly part of a Lilith Fair revival where Holly pours out her soul while switching effortlessly from the piano to the guitar.

But as heard on Where’d You Go, Brook is more deep than her contemporizes sets the tone with the opening lines to the opening track, Giving it Up for You where she tells us, “Though I’m young and cynical, it’s not my only crime.” The song itself sounds like an edgier version of songs heard on Anna Nalick’s debut. And when I say edgy, I’m not talking about the manufactured edginess of singers like Ashlee Simpson. Then there's What I Wouldn't Give which shows a much more vulnerable side. As for influences, they run the gambit of female singer songwriters; Wanted is reminiscent of something from Sarah McLachlan’s prime. Saturdays acoustic quickly beat sound like something Susanne Vega could have came up with. Heavy brings up thoughts of Tori Amos but much more palatable.

Even though Holly doesn’t get as experimental as another artist she is compared too, Fiona Apple, Brook branch out more musically than other singer songwriters of the day. This is helped by Brook’s knowledge of multiple instruments so she can switch from one to another without bogging the album with tedium and knows when to bring in other instruments into the equation to highlight the song. She can also bring things down, ending the album her and the guitar on All Will be Forgotten then spotlights her piano on the closer Cellar Door. Maybe after a couple more years and albums under her belt Holly Brook can get to the place where Fiona recently reached herself.

Song to Download - Wanted

Like Blood Like Honey gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.