On her first independently released studio album, Brooke breaks not only from record-company clutches but from the strict folk conventions that marked her previous efforts. Though the former frontwoman for the Story dabbled with contemporary rock and pop styles on 1997's 10 Cent Wings (Refuge/MCA), she wholeheartedly embraces the radio market on this album. It's not a complete break from tradition, however. Brooke's songs are still built solidly upon the jazzy folk that she's known for. A lot more frills and thrills pepper this revamped style, though, from a guitar solo thick with juicy distortion ("Red Dress") to a funk-infused bass line ("How Deep Is Your Love"). Such new wrinkles give Brooke's songwriting more complexity than that of most brown-bag singer-songwriters. Elsewhere, the simple acoustic-guitar-and-voice combo of "Lullabye" and the outright rock of "Out of Your Mind" show a more straightforward side, but they still hold true to the pop appreciation that underlies this album's tunes.
Though Brooke clearly puts a more accessible face on this record, she keeps her songs from falling into lovelorn cliche: "We captured the flag in our own foreign countries/And took each other prisoner bit by bit/We take no prisoners now in this sullen landscape/Just ask for forgiveness and hang on to our wits," she croons in "Room in My Heart." She delivers the lines with enough verve to make a weepy breakup number strike with more emotion than just self-pity.
Brooke's one-two punch of heartfelt lyrics and well-polished folk rock give this record an edge over most of its contemporaries. While Brooke isn't a strong enough lyricist or songwriter for either her words or her arrangements to shine entirely on their own, the combination of the two finds an uncommon union.
