Gee, another year, another great album by French-Canadian chanteuse
Lily Frost.
Situation is perhaps not the career high point that 2006's
Ciné-Magique proved to be, but that's only because now
Frost's fans expect such strengths from her.
Frost is working the same general side of the stylistic street as any number of other artists: the reverb-washed Francophone opener "Les Vaisseux Nocturnes" sounds for all the world like a late-era
Saint Etienne ballad as remixed by the
Cocteau Twins'
Robin Guthrie, and the
Ennio Morricone guitars, flamenco accents and plaintive vocals of "Where Is Love?" wouldn't sound out of place on an album by
Emiliana Torrini, although
Torrini likely wouldn't slip this song's gorgeous '60s-inspired pure pop chorus into one of her tunes. But
Frost is such a gifted songwriter and arranger, in addition to having one of the sweetest voices this side of the late
Kirsty MacColl, that
Situation doesn't just compare favorably to any number of other similar albums, it actually subtly underscores their relative flaws.
Lily Frost's music is perhaps too subtly low-key to offer her any sort of mainstream breakthrough, but there is no reason why she shouldn't be at least as appreciated as the likes of
Emily Haines or
Feist. ~ Stewart Mason