It's Not Really A Panning: Why The Solid Gold EP Is A Tough Sell!

The Good: Vocals, Most of the lyrics, Good sound
The Bad: Occasionally overproduced, VERY SHORT!
The Basics: Nikki Yanofsky's new Solid Gold EP hints at an amazing forthcoming full-album . . . while asking her fanbase to double-buy tracks from what is going to be a concept album, which infuriates those of us who have come to love her works.


This has been a good year for me with music. Earlier in the year, I went to a Heather Nova concert (reviewed here!) and my favorite musical artist of all time performed a request that I had posted to her Facebook page. And now, with the release of Nikki Yanofsky's Solid Gold EP, I finally get to hear an acoustic version of Yanofsky's single "Young Love." While I know that Nova performed the one song specifically because of my request (she told the story of getting the request on the Facebook page and asked if the person who made the request was there before she performed it!), I have no idea if Yanofsky put the acoustic version of "Young Love" on the Solid Gold EP because of my request or not. However, when Yanofsky publicly released "Young Love" online a few months ago, I tweeted to her that it was a wonderful song, but that it made me wish I could hear an acoustic version of it. So, either she planned initially to release the less-produced version all along or she - like Heather Nova - is responsive to her social media requests by giving her listeners what they want on new albums! But, given that Yanofsky mentions reading all her tweets, I have hope within me that my comment reached her and she threw the acoustic version of "Young Love" on the Solid Gold EP because of my request.

The Solid Gold EP appears to be following the same model that Meagan Trainor followed with Title (reviewed here!) where the artists releases an EP to promote a forthcoming full-length album. I am not a fan.

To be clear, I have very suddenly become a fan of the works of Nikki Yanofsky and, amidst listening to Solid Gold EP on heavy-replay, I listened to a live stream event I missed last month where Yanofsky discussed the Solid Gold EP (which made me sad - I had questions I would have asked Yanofsky!), where Yanofsky promoted the Solid Gold EP and referenced the full album coming in the Spring (of 2017). I am not a fan of using a medium poorly or having to double-buy things, like music or movies that have continual revisions. So, the idea of the Solid Gold EP is inherently offensive to me; it is a promotional tool for a concept record. I love concept albums and I am super-psyched about the idea of a Nikki Yanofsky concept album, especially when Yanofsky has said that the concept album is an exploration of her relationship experiences. Solid Gold EP hints that Yanofsky has something to say and the talent to say it in an interesting way. But, if you're going to release a concept album, release a concept album; take the time to get it right, then release the full thing. Making a sampler like the Solid Gold EP feels like a promotional device; a way to keep one's name out in the public eye while one finishes a work. Having seen a ton of ads for Norah Jones's new album, I have a sneaking suspicion that someone managing Yanofsky's career wanted to put out something right around the same time so people seeing Jones's new work could be up-sold on something from Yanofsky. Regardless of the background theory, the Solid Gold EP is a glimpse into a larger work and it hints at something amazing without delivering it.

With only six tracks clocking out at 19:30, the Solid Gold EP might be a poor use of the c.d. medium, but what is contained on the EP is pretty amazing. Nikki Yanofsky wrote or co-wrote/composed all five of the songs ("Young Love" is on the EP twice in fully-produced and acoustic versions!). The primary vocals are all from Nikki Yanofsky and Yanofsky worked closely with Wyclef Jean, who produced the Solid Gold EP; judging from everything she says about it in interviews, this (and, especially, the forthcoming full-length album) is very much the work Yanofsky wanted to release.

The six tracks on the Solid Gold EP are a musically well-developed grouping of songs and the transition from track to track actually works wonderfully. Opening with the upbeat, classic-pop sound of "Young Love" (which sounds like a 1980's ballad in the best possible way!), the Solid Gold EP moves to a wonderfully funky sounding "Best Of Me." "Me, Myself & I" is haunting and guided by Yanofsky's voice, despite the percussion in it; it might be the perfect blend of lonely lyrics, barren accompaniment and an emotive voice to evoke the desired mood with impressive efficiency. The up-tempo "Miss You When I'm Drunk" prevents listeners from falling completely into despair. The album transitions nicely into the acoustic version of "Young Love" (which, as I hoped, resonates more emotively without the orchestral accompaniment and the "one woman and a piano" sound of it pops in a different and wonderful way) before ending with "To No1." Like the song that precedes it, "To No1." is contemplative sounding and piano-driven.

As anyone who has heard anything by Nikki Yanofsky knows, Yanofsky has an amazing voice and her range and ability to hold notes continues on the Solid Gold EP. On the Solid Gold EP, Yanofsky is expressive, vocally impressive and filled with so much raw talent that it leaves the listener wishing for a dual-album - a fully-produced album and an acoustic version of the same album to hear the musically-rich experience and contrast it with one where Yanofsky's amazing voice dominates. I'm a cheapskate, but I'd shell out for that right away! (And, unlike a "sampler" like an EP leading into a full album, a produced and an acoustic version of the same album can easily become two very distinct and different musical works!)

Lyrically, Nikki Yanofsky begins to deliver on her potential on Solid Gold EP. On some of Yanofsky's other works, there have been songs Yanofsky has written or co-written and they have been bursting with potential - especially when compared to some of the standards she performs with painfully-predictable rhyme schemes. On the Solid Gold EP, Yanofsky keeps the writing fresh, interesting and emotional. Songs like "Miss You When I'm Drunk" captivate the listener with an almost universal sense of missing someone and getting over them in the sober light of day.

It made me very glad to hear that "Me, Myself & I" was Yanofsky's favorite track on Solid Gold EP (at least according to her live stream interview she did on Facebook when the EP was released!); it is arguably the most poetic, distinctive, and lyrically complicated song on the album. When Yanofsky sings "I hate being alone with my thoughts / Baby, please don't be gone for too long / Outside our love you've got plenty of friends / I've only got you and so I pretend / That I'm all right / Yeah, it's all right / It's just me, myself and I . . ." ("Me, Myself & I") it is hard for anyone who has been immersed in a complicated relationship not to empathize with the musical protagonist. The Solid Gold EP illustrates well that Yanofsky does, indeed, have something original to say about relationships and the ability to make those thoughts beautifully musical.

Rather than continuing to evaluate the lyrics - I'll devote the time to that with the full album - I wanted to reiterate; what is on the Solid Gold EP is wonderful . . . there is just not enough of it. And knowing that we will get all these songs and quite a bit more on a new album makes it an impossible sell for a thrifty person like me. And, frankly, having heard William Shatner tell the full story of how his musical career got entirely derailed by a musical concept album that was presented poorly to the masses, it seems ridiculous to me that anyone would ever release an EP based upon a concept album. I can understand the marketing behind releasing an EP, but as a consumer, it is hard not to feel cheated by the EP, then full-album strategy and it is disappointing to see an musician like Nikki Yanofsky using this approach as she transitions from a performer to a full-fledged artist. In other words, as Yanofsky starts to hit her artistic stride, taking such a commercial approach to distribution feels very . . . un-artistic.

In short, Nikki Yanofsky is not going to go bankrupt and stop making music if you don't buy the Solid Gold EP (we hope!). She is talented, the music on the Solid Gold EP is wonderful, but the smart money is on the idea that when the full album is finished and released in 2017 Yanofsky will be able to pull off the concept and make something that is a complete, rich concept album that is well-developed and worth waiting for. The Solid Gold EP just makes listeners want the full album; unless one is a collector who absolutely has to have everything from an artist, save your money and get the full album when it is released next year.

For other works by Nikki Yanofsky, please visit my reviews of:
Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing
Nikki
Little Secret

5/10

For other music reviews, please check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Surprising, Amazing, Debut Of Nikki Yanofsky: Ella . . . Of Thee I Sing

The Good: Wonderful vocals, Decent musical accompaniment
The Bad: A couple of interpretations that are technically-impressive, but mortgage the emotion of the lines
The Basics: Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing was a smart debut album to show off the innate talents of Nikki Yanofsky and sets the bar high for her original works.


I have come to the conclusion that I have a weird relationship with the musical works of Nikki Yanofsky. After all, having reviewed over 850 albums, I have a pretty long record of appreciating the works of artists, as opposed to performers. In monthlong studies of the works of Elvis Presley and Ella Fitzgerald and a sole Roberta Flack album, I developed an appreciation for original works by musical artists. Singer-songwriters tend to impress me far more than those who simply sing the words of other people. As a result, no one is more surprised than I am that, out of the three full-length albums by Nikki Yanofsky, the one that is highest rated is her cover album. Nikki Yanofsky, before she started composing her own, original, musical works, performed a series of cover songs for her debut concert album, Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing.

I have been a fan of the works of Nikki Yanofsky for a few years now, when I was blown away by her single "Necessary Evil" from Yanofsky's album Little Secret (reviewed here!). Fortunately, my appreciation of Yanofsky's work could not be written off as a stupid crush - I heard "Necessary Evil" more than twenty times before ever seeing the music video! Nikki Yanofsky is incredibly talented and that talent is evident immediately on Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing.

Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing is a recording of Yanofsky's concert performance by the same name and it is worth noting that this review is of the album only. After listening to the album a couple times, I tracked down a video of the Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing concert performance and the two experiences are very different. The concert video of Nikki Yanofsky's Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing is arguably one of the most unsettling hours of television I have ever watched - the powerful vocals of Nikki Yanofsky paired with visuals of a 13 year-old in braces bouncing around (smiling after singing a line about dying, for example) is an almost impossible-to-reconcile experience. On its own as an audio recording, though, Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing is not only an impressive debut for the young performer, but a legitimately wonderful musical experience.

With eighteen songs, clocking out just over an hour, Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing is a collection of songs that had been performed famously by Ella Fitzgerald. Outside "Swingin' On The Moon," Nikki Yanofsky performs songs previously covered by Fitzgerald on Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing. On Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing, Nikki Yanofsky provides all of the vocals, while accompanied by a band; she does not play any instruments, nor was she involved in the production of the album.

The instrumental accompaniment for Nikki Yanofsky on Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing is good. Yanofsky is accompanied by a full jazz band on Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing and they are more than competent to play the tunes made famous by Ella Fitzgerald. Perhaps what is most musically impressive is how generous Yanofsky is in letting her accompanists play. On "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," Yanofsky gives time and space for multiple performers to play solos. Beyond the occasional solos, the music has a very typical jazz band sound to it. Instrumentally, the mambo for "Relax Max" is a real standout for the band. The album is produced so that the vocals come to the forefront of the audio experience.

What makes Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing so impressive are the vocals of Nikki Yanofsky. From the very first song, Nikki Yanofsky illustrates vocal abilities far beyond those of the average teenager. On "Lullaby In Birdland," Yanofsky hits all of the high notes and displays amazing lung capacity. Seriously, after listening to the first song, one might guess that as a teenager, Nikki Yanofsky was a track star based on how long she can hold notes. But most of Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing is not slow at all. Yanofsky sings fast and precisely on "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)."

Range and vocal power are at the forefront of Yanofsky's skills on Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing. In her youthful voice, Yanofsky declares that if Ella Fitzgerald did not perform the song "Swingin' On The Moon" (I could not find any evidence that Fitzgerald ever recorded a version of the song with a cursory search), she should have, but then she illustrates why the song would have been an amazing fit for the venerable performer. Yanofsky sounds like she is channeling Fitzgerald when she makes leaps from her lowest register into full-on soprano vocals. Yanofsky is amazing with her ability to make such register transitions.

Not all of the songs or interpretations on Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing are winners. "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" is terribly repetitive, but given that Yanofsky had nothing to do with writing the songs, this is not at all her fault. Yanofsky's rendition of "Old MacDonald" is absolutely disturbing, especially as an audio recording without the visual concert experience. Nikki Yanosky performs "Old MacDonald" at a speed that is mind-numbing; she sings so fast that the only note I could make on how well she articulated each word in the song was "wow." Yanofsky is absolutely amazing with her technical ability on "Old MacDonald," but the song itself is just troubling to listen to in her rendition.

Even so, virtually every potential negative remark one could make about Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing is more than balanced out by the positive elements of it. The speed-singing on "Old MacDonald" does not diminish how impressive Nikki Yanofsky's range is on the song. Yanofsky performs "You've Changed" with such a powerful voice that does not reveal the singer's youth relative to the lyrics. Despite the weird dedication to her dog on "At Last," Nikki Yanofsky still exhibits amazing, soulful, vocals on the track. The raw charisma on "A Tisket, A Tasket" is fun as well.

Ultimately, Ella . . . Of Thee I Swing is an impressive jazz album and it foreshadows the potential Nikki Yanofsky possesses . . . even if she has not yet successfully, consistently, translated it into her own, original works.

The best song is "Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues," the worst track is "The Way You Look Tonight," which (admittedly, I am inherently biased against given the strong connection I have to James Darren's version) was presented with the lyrics going too fast, lacking time to reflect upon them.

For other albums, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Nikki - Nikki Yanofsky
25 - Adele
Emerald - Dar Williams

8/10

For other music reviews, please check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Interesting, Not Essential, Nikki Only Hints At The Artistic Potential Of Nikki Yanofsky.

The Good: Wonderful vocals, Original works have great lyrics
The Bad: "Standards" do not fit with the rest of the album, Awkward arrangements
The Basics: For those looking for a fresh jazz vocal sound, Nikki provides a lot of promise, but does not let the artist truly shine.


A few years ago, I went on a car trip through Canada and I heard a song so many times that I became quite enamored with it, so much so that as soon as I returned home and could look the song and artist up, I bought the album on the strength of the one song. That, for those who are not familiar with my reviews and my album-buying methodology, was a huge departure from the norm for me. The song was "Necessary Evil" off of Nikki Yanofsky's album Little Secret (reviewed here!). And, after a few years of having that album on with surprising consistency - both in the car and at home - I decided it was time for something new for me from Nikki Yanofsky. So, I decided to pick up her album Nikki.

Right off the bat, it behooves me to state that there is nothing inherently wrong with Nikki. That said, Nikki is not my cup of tea because I am not the world's biggest fan of vocal jazz recordings and the album is split between Nikki Yanofsky covering jazz standards and other people's works and a handful of songs she co-wrote. The problem for me is one with the industry, more than with the album Nikki itself. The explosion of "reality music competition" shows on television and the popularity of Glee made for an obscene volume of cover songs hitting the marketplace over the last two decades. I've always been vastly more interested in musical artists, as opposed to performers and at this time, it seems like the key way vocal talents break into the market is through covering other people's works long enough to gain enough success that they can produce all of their own works. Nikki Yanofsky is well on her way to an album that is 100% hers, but Nikki is not that album.

Instead, Nikki features thirteen tracks with a runtime of 46:51 and Yanofsky was co-writer for six of the songs. While Nikki Yanofsky provides all of the primary vocals and did some of the arrangements and composed several of the songs on Nikki, she does not play any musical instruments on the album and she is not credited with producing. As a result, it is unclear how much of the overall work is the album Yanofsky wanted to create, as opposed to what she had to make to satisfy the studio and the marketing for the album. Yanofsky is still young; striving for commercial success early on is not a bad thing necessarily, but on Nikki, the contrast between the standards and songs Yanofsky is covering and the original works Yanofsky was directly involved with creating is quite noticeable. The works Yanofsky co-wrote are fresh, original, tread more toward jazz-pop and are, by far, the highlights of the album.

That said, on every track of Nikki, Nikki Yanofsky uses her absolutely incredible voice. On "First Lady," Yanofsky presents one of her most vocally-pure, soulful performances that is the model of range. When she is not trying to squeeze into others' notes and lyrics, Yanofsky takes her time to be expressive and heart-melting with her amazing soprano voice. Even on Yanofsky's version of "I Got Rhythm," which was troubling to me for the tempo (compared to every other version I had heard), Yanofsky manages to make every single word clear and crisp, which (as someone who has spent twenty years mumbling along to "Wonderwall" I can easily acknowledge) is no small feat. Nikki Yanofsky's vocals are beautiful and she has a great voice; perhaps she would have broken out in the U.S. had the airwaves not been stuffed by so many other vocalists from reality shows producing more pop-radio-friendly tracks.

Instrumentally, Nikki is exactly what one would expect from a modern jazz vocal album. Nikki Yanofsky is accompanied by trumpets, saxophones, guitars, drums and a few other brass and string instruments. The album is produced to promote Yanofsky's vocals to the forefront, with the instrumental accompaniment accenting her voice, never drowning it out. Even on the songs Yanofsky co-wrote, there are no breakout instrumental tunes that linger with the listener after the album is played.

On the other hand, for the original works on Nikki, Nikki Yanofsky illustrates an exceptional level of lyrical talent. Yanofsky manages to make a playful song out of the rather mundane act of running late with "Never Make It On Time." The song sounds downright cool the way Yanofsky sings "Never make it on time / I'm trying to get to you / Something just won't let me through / I don't know what I'm gonna do / Help me, please / 'Cause I can swim in a stream / And I can hear the clock chime / 'Cause I come in a bad dream / I'll never make it on time" ("Never Make It On Time"). She plays the lateness off with the yearning to connect and her first original track on the album comes off as explosively original after the standard that opens Nikki.

As well, on Nikki, Nikki Yanofsky illustrates a wonderful sense of poetry and imagery in the songs she co-wrote. She paints perfectly the mood of anticipation when waking from a dream with the lines "Where do I start now? / There's so many things to dream before the morning light / Sending my heart out" before contrasting it with the physical: "When the morning comes at last / There's so many thing to do before I lay down /Though it may be overcast / I can see a light that shines right through the darkest cloud" ("For Another Day"). For a young artist, it is clear that Nikki Yanofsky not only has something to say on Nikki, but she also has a talent for saying it!

Even on "Cool My Heels," which is a jazzy little number that sounds like something Ella Fitzgerald would have performed if it was available to her, Yanofsky makes a statement. She falls into the trap of many young artists by relying on an unfortunately predictable rhyme scheme - "It's like the garden and the apple tree / Same old temptation keeps a haunting me / Everybody's got something to say / But I'm the one that's got to pay some day" ("Cool My Heels") - it's hard to kvetch, given that Yanofsky was fifteen or sixteen when she wrote the song.

There is something funny about a Canadian jazz vocalist opening an album with "Take The 'A' Train" - a song about touring New York City - and the truth is, "Over The Rainbow" was pretty much played out long before Yanofsky got to it (it's hard to imagine what a fresh, different cover of the song would sound like - I suspect if I began to pitch it, someone would come up with an already-produced version in that genre), so Nikki is a tough sell, even for a debut album. But the moments where Yanofsky's original works are playing are enough to grab the ear and rivet the listener. The six original tracks are enough to justify listening to, if not buying, Nikki.

The best track is "For Another Day," the low point is "I Got Rhythm."

For other jazz albums, be sure to check out my reviews of:
The Intimate Ella - Ella Fitzgerald
Oh My Nola - Harry Connick Jr.
Come Away With Me - Norah Jones

5/10

For other music reviews, please check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Can’t Wait For Adele’s New Album? Nikki Yanofsky Might Be The Best Kept Little Secret!

The Good: Good vocals, Decent lyrics, Sounds great
The Bad: SHORT!, Overproduced in several places
The Basics: The most consistently wonderful album of 2014, Little Secret is poised to make Nikki Yanofsky a household name in the U.S.


My recent vacation was broken into two legs: a quick trip to New York (which I did solo) and a full vacation with my wife to Minnesota. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the actual travel for the two legs of the trip was the stark contrast in the airplay on the radio in my car as I traveled. For my trip back to New York, I went through Canada and the sheer variety of music on the slew of radio stations I cruised was wonderful. By contrast, the farther I went into the Midwest United States on the second half of my trip, the more the radio stations were dominated by the insipid new single by Taylor Swift, new Country music and an inordinate number of radio evangelicals talking hellfire and brimstone. But what really struck me in Canada was a “new” single that stuck in my head and became the first song in years that I felt compelled to look up the moment I reached my destination. The song was “Necessary Evil,” by Nikki Yanofsky and it is the current single being used to promote Yanofsky’s album Little Secret.

Having now listened to Little Secret - several times! – I am heartened by the idea that pop music might not be dead . . . it just went north to get developed and played for this decade. And it’s pretty much popped-up Jazz. The thing is, the more I listened to “Necessary Evil” and the rest of Little Secret, the more it occurred to me that Adele pretty much has an impossible task with her new album (how did Adele get into this?! Give me a moment . . .). Adele’s 21 (reviewed here!) legitimately took the world by storm with her powerful vocals, memorable lyrics, catchy tunes and a pretty kicking bassline. The success of 21 put Adele in a pretty horrible position creatively; either she tries to recapture the sound and feel of her mega-successful album (in which case critics will bash her for staying in a safe rut) or she branches out creatively, where she risks losing the audience that found her atypical-jazz/pop sound to be a refreshing change of pace. Enter Nikki Yanofsky and Little Secret. Yanofsky has an amazing voice and she is not afraid to use it on Little Secret. Her musical background is strongly jazz, but Little Secret has all the qualities necessary to pull an obscure jazz album into a full-fledged pop music hit. Little Secret has wonderful flow, a generally good variety of songs and some compelling lyrics and themes. For sure, Little Secret works better as an album than it would as a collection of singles (i.e. there won’t be four or five singles played from this album on the radio, like Adele’s 21 had), but it has the right mix of catchy and compelling to be perfectly worth listening to over and over again. In other words, Little Secret might well be the logical album for those who loved 21 to follow up with. Occupying a similar niche and level of talent as Adele, Nikki Yanofsky has created an album that evolves past the sounds Adele put forth on 21 . . . and she is unburdened by the reputation and expectations that are now associated with being Adele!

With twelve tracks, clocking out just under thirty-nine minutes, the biggest strike against Little Secret is that it is short. Most of the songs are barely over three minutes in length and the significance of that cannot be understated. “Necessary Evil” is the second-longest track on Little Secret and part of the beauty of the song is that it is given the time to truly breathe and develop. What made me truly “hear” the song “Necessary Evil” and become intrigued enough to pick up Little Secret was a half-beat pause in the song before Yanofsky sings the word “cuckoo.” Seriously. Most of the songs on Little Secret lack the duration to make intriguing musical moments like that.

That said, what Little Secret has is an impressive collection of songs that illustrate that Nikki Yanofsky is a genuine artist (and not likely to be a one-hit wonder). Yanofsky co-wrote all of the songs on Little Secret, save “Jeepers Creepers 2.0.” Yanofsky provides all of the primary vocals on Little Secret. While Yanofsky is not credited with production credits, she seems to have been intimately involved with the overall sound of Little Secret.

The trust Nikki Yanofsky put in her producers seems justified; Little Secret does not sound like any other albums being released this year. Lights Out is easily-classified as jazz-pop; the title track sounds like Yanofsky and her co-writers started with “Fever” and started a rewrite. “Jeepers Creepers 2.0” takes the old standard and peps it up for a contemporary audience. But those two songs sound nothing like “Necessary Evil,” which is right on the border of r&b or “You Mean The World To Me,” which is a soft, slow pop ballad. The delightful aspect of Little Secret is that it might have a jazz base (recall that all rock and roll did!), but Yanofsky does not stay pigeonholed within that genre. The result is an album that feels musically diverse, while remaining a cohesive thread. While “Necessary Evil” finds the perfect balance of basslines and instrumental accompaniment, several of the songs (most notably “Out Of Nowhere”) are overproduced, adding more elements, samples and volume of instruments to the mix to feel a little more assembled than organic. It leaves one hoping for an acoustic version of Little Secret just to be able to hear every lyric and the vocal power of the primary artist.

And Nikki Yanofsky certainly has vocal power. Her voice is sweet and soulful on “Necessary Evil,” lower and smokier on “Out Of Nowhere” and could be a clone of Ella Fitzgerald on “Waiting On The Sun.” Yanofsky has fairly incredible range, from lower alto for some of her jazz torchsong sounds to an soprano for some of her more intimate vocal moments. I was particularly impressed by how well she articulates while singing some of her faster lines on songs like “Knock Knock.” After Little Secret, it seems like Yanofsky could credibly go in any direction she wants with developing her sound; she has the vocal range for it!

As a writer, Nikki Yanofsky has some serious talent as well. It takes a lot for me to accept (much less champion) a song about infidelity or raw sexuality – I tend to go for classy and evolved; we make choices, not just fall compulsively into acts of love or sex. But Yanofsky sells me with “Necessary Evil” and it’s not simply because the song is well-produced to be a hit. Like all great music, it starts with the lyrics and when Yanofsky croons “Come baby time to play, you know I want it bad, you too / Yeah baby its okay if it drives me mad, cuckoo / Maybe I love it, maybe I need it / Maybe there ain't no other way to try and please me / No matter how it all goes down, I just know I want you now / So don't you, don't you tell me no . . .” (“Necessary Evil”), she is captivating. The song is not vacuous, though, and Yanofsky includes a sense of consequence, which is what makes “Necessary Evil” so wonderful: “I should lose these wicked ways, I know this can't be good for you / So tell me that you love these games, you don't mind being used do you?”

Yanofsky sings most about relationships and Little Secret has a decent emotive range of songs about fulfillment and longing. Not shy about aiming for fun and making pop culture references – which Yanofsky does on “Something New” and “Kaboom Pow” – Yanofsky manages to be smart and substantive for the bulk of Little Secret. Yanofsky and her co-writers have an excellent sense of imagery and tying it to emotions. With delightfully florid lines like “Skies been bluffing me for days / Actin' like it's 'bout to rain / But I've been waiting / And nothing's changed / Of all the shades the sky could take / Why paint it grey” (“Waiting On The Sun”), Yanofsky makes a clear visual and emotional picture with her songs.

Not all of the lyrics are winners, but even the somewhat predictable rhymes work in context. One suspects Yanofsky was secretly trying to position herself as the next singer for a James Bond film with “Bang.” The song works despite somewhat repetitive and predictable rhymes like “Most wild forces can't be tamed tamed tamed / Better duck your head down as he aims aims aims for it / Killin for a livin', such a crying shame / But evil’s such a good dog when it’s chained chained chained” (“Bang”).

Regardless of its short duration, Little Secret does a wonderful job of presenting Nikki Yanofsky as a woman with great range and depth, which might go a long way to preventing Yanofsky from suffering the same problems Norah Jones faced with trying to reinvent herself after Come Away With Me (reviewed here!). Yanofsky continually evolves and experiments on Little Secret, while maintaining a powerful and distinctive voice to make for a cohesive album that is well worth picking up.

For other new music, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Title - Meghan Trainor
Lights Out - Ingrid Michaelson
Shine On - Sarah McLachlan

7/10

For other music reviews, please check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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