Casey Desmond – S/T / 2005 Self / 13 Tracks / http://www.caseydesmond.com / Reviewed 16 December 2005

Casey comes out with “Did We Make It”, which seems to be cut from the same cloth as Kelly Clarkson. That is to say, a strong set of vocals laid over completely innocuous and middle of the road pop/rock arrangements. The music is essentially sugary treats for listeners; there seems to be little substantive to hold onto. Still, the music will make individuals happy; if that is the goal of Desmond with eir disc, more power to eir. The music is essentially the grown up version of Hilary Duff; this is not intenided as a slam, but really gives some ground for comparisons.

A strong vocal presence dominates throughout the track, while theband almost feels uncomfortable in its role as providing a background to Desmond’s vocals. The drumming is suspect because it seems to just be a metronome rather than really lifting up Desmond’s voice to the next plateau. “Swim” takes a middle ground between the pop music previously mentioned and a more adult type of alternative-pop put out by Sarah McLachlan or Tori Amos. Each of the tracks is imbued with a style that will allow it to be played quite often on popular radio even if there is little more behind the scenes. “Sorry Ain’t Enough” is one of the tracks that fins a way out of the middling bunch of tracks on the disc and really makes a strong case for being worthy of “single” consideration. One thing that does distinguish Desmond from the masses of other pop divas is that ey actually goes and sings, instead of doing that warbling crap that “talents” like Christian and Mariah tend to do.

The disc works really well for either active or passive listening; aside from being a good elevator music disc, someone can work out or clean the house with Desmond’s work. The penultimate track “Meaningless” is the longest track on the disc, and while it does have a tendency to drag on there is enough momentum to let it fall over the finish line without too much in the way of damage, especially at this late period. Even though there is nothing new brought to the table, Desmond comes out with a solid album that will delight anyone that listens to it, regardless of their tastes in music. While it might not yet be time for eir on mTV or plastered all over Clearchannel, this is a good starting point for a solid career.

Top Tracks: Shivering, The Calm

Rating: 5.9/10

[JMcQ]