You can’t really go wrong with the confessional approach to song writing. Roll out lyrics that draw on mistakes and lesson learned and you’ve got it all gift wrapped and ready to mail out to the download ready world. That perhaps does an injustice to Vanessa Peters as she gives nothing less than a balanced performance on her album “The Burn The Truth The Lies”.
It’s hard not to like the poetry of “The State I’m Living In” as she takes the song off into Ingrid Michealson territory and no doubt many will appreciate that wry take on life that is infused into Ms Peters’ lyrics. Likewise, “A Good Judge” takes a studiously big city viewpoint to that age old problem of breaking up without the making up and, further demonstrating a fine choice of influences, there’s a bit of the Shelby Lynne to be found in “Grateful” and even a bit of the Sheryl Crow in “This Could Go Well”. Whilst she, in truth, doesn’t sound much like any of the aforementioned, she clearly hails from the same part of town.
Certainly there is nothing wrong with Vanessa Peter’s performance and her realistic and intelligent lyrics will resonate with many. Her rather dull and uninspired backing band do drag things down a bit but that actually works to her advantage as her voice is brought more to the fore in terms of making that all important sonic impact.
When all said and done, sincerity is her game and she plays it well here.
The album is available from Bandcamp.