The back of
Aslyn's
Lemon Love depicts her gazing at her own record on 12" vinyl, complete with
Capitol's famous rainbow label. It's a fun little fantasy, fitting with the stars, cloud doodles, and vintage headphones that fill out
Lemon Love's charming artwork, because the twentysomething
singer/songwriter's debut floats somewhere in the blue sky between 1970s MOR
pop and the slick
adult alternative sounds of 2005.
"Ain't No Love" crosses the harmonies of
Queen's
"Killer Queen" with a soulful
Maroon 5 bounce and empowered lines like "I wanna know that I can't be traded...Know who I am is not about make-up." Lead single
"Be the Girl" doesn't go for the immediate listener connection, like something from
Ashlee might. Instead it grows on you, building to a driving chorus of brash guitars and
Aslyn's own Rhodes keying. The production does get a little slick though, as it does throughout
Lemon Love. And that's a bit disappointing, because there are moments when she strains on a high note or fits a bunch of quirky words into one lyric -- Waffle Houses, Mercury Sables, popcorn butter, and Avon cologne -- that you can see
Aslyn singing her heart out in a club or coffeehouse somewhere, and it's an image closer to the classic
pop songwriter of the album art's vinyl fantasy than the too-often marketed and packaged stuff of niche-market contemporary life. Coming back to earth, however,
Lemon Love offers plenty of bright choruses and chances for
Aslyn to use her friendly singing style to pull you in. She's like the friend of the lead in every
romantic comedy, the girl with all the snappy answers who sings in the shower like the star she should be. The title track is a softer-side highlight,
"Here's to Believe" finds
R&B inside
pop, and
"Golden" again highlights
Aslyn's impressive keyboard work. In short, she's made a debut that's easy to enjoy, and comfortable like the dog-eared edges of a trusty LP. ~ Johnny Loftus
![Midnights [Jade Green Edition] [Edited]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0602448247032_p0_v3_s90x140.jpg "Midnights [Jade Green Edition] [Edited]")
![Hozier [Special Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0602547642905_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Hozier [Special Edition]")
![evermore [deluxe version]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0602435648583_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "evermore [deluxe version]")
