Shine Like It Does, the debut CD of former Daisy Chain singer Eileen Rose, illustrates a wide range and understanding of human emotions. Rose is not afraid to examine the depths of her soul, questioning her self-confidence, regretting the past, and looking hopefully toward the future. The opening song, "Rose" opens with the lines "I was sure enough to come, I was dumb enough to stay", establishing her arrival, but also demonstrating that sometimes things don't turn out what we wish to be.
"Rose" shows the singer looking for guidance, as she pleads in her Sheryl Crow/Stevie Nicks, bluesy style:
So won't you take me by the hand?
Won't you lead me somewhere safe?
Because all the secrets of my soul aren't enough to keep me whole
Aren't enough to make me break.
"Lincoln Park," written and sung much like a 10,000 Maniacs tune, is a longing look at the past, sprinkled with bittersweet memories and the reminder that our lives are never quite as we imagine they will be:
"We all had plans in a world that rises up to meet them. And we'd never look back. We laughed more then. I don't know. I guess I feel forgotten. Do you ever think that? But how can you cry when RKO is playing 'Sweet Caroline, good times never seemed so good'".
Rose's voice is hard to pigeonhole, as she wanders from Loretta Lynn/Lucinda Williams territory ("Booze Talkin'"), to shy, almost Jewel-like musing ("Silver Ladle"), to straight-ahead rock in "Shining", which sounds like a lost Rolling Stones song.
At times the artist seems to be looking for salvation, yet unwilling or unable to pursue it. In "Still in the Family" she comments that "redemption's not for everyone...not for Rose". In "Silver Ladle" she writes that "faith is a cradle, then the wind blows and the bough breaks. I'm hard at work breeding devils. A martyr, oh, do that real good." "Party Dress" laments "I shot for Heaven but came in low".
Another theme is that of relationships. "Would You Marry Me?" poses that question to an imagined beau, while "Booze Talkin'" portrays an unfaithful lover caught in a compromising position with another woman. "New Penny" is about a chance meeting in a club:
When a jukebox junkie with money left to spend makes a meal of it,
Everybody's moving. And you're looking my way again.
I got nothing to do in the morning
And you're dancing and shining like a new penny.
Raw and poignant, wistful and forceful, Shine Like It Does is an outstanding beginning for Eileen Rose. This disc will stand up well against anything by Sheryl Crow, Susan Tedeschi, or Patti Smith. Much like Pierce Pettis or VOL, Rose will stand as another unknown Compass artist that deserves our respect (and our ears).
4 tocks
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