Mish Mash Music
Amelia's Dream - Love Tattoo
Ripe & Ready Records 12 song CD

Amelia Gewirtz has a wisp of a voice; it floats along weightlessly through folk-inspired rhythms and dreamy dance-pop songscapes. It's an effortless sound, light and airy, yet it's a voice that indicates there is a lot more depth, hiding behind the childlike innocent facade. She is the classic siren, drawing you in only to confound you with her complexity.

The opener, Footprints, is a coming-of-age tune that sets the tone for the album with its positive and upbeat movement, leaving the old behind. The idealism continues as a defiant attitude surfaces in Garden, presenting a bold display of womanly strength: "You have got to plant your own garden / Don't wait for someone else to bring you flowers." Gerwitz then throws us for a loop with the ironically sexy cover of Evil Ways, which slinks around in a jazzy striptease.

Love Tattoo is full of strong pop music, but there's a lot more going on under the surface. It's good to hear a record that can actually surprise you, albeit in a very subtle way.