By Lindsay Christ
“Imaginary Biography” is the first full-length album from Leerone, an indie-pop singer/songwriter whose sounds can be said to mirror those of Tori Amos or even Carole King. Leerone was born in Israel, and spent much of her life living in both Israel and Los Angeles.
This eclectic artist describes her tracks as “music for your spinal cord,” and, after listening to her debut album, one wonders whether or not this is such a good thing
The album starts out promising, with “Fill the Void,” a song that is catchy enough. However, the track runs the risk of being lost among the cliche pop-like singles sung by indie female musicians who have been coming out of the woodwork and into mainstream music recently.
In the song, Leerone sings, “Who are they to tell you what your life is supposed to be?/Why are you so willing to be at their mercy?” illuminating her nonconformist persona that she continues to display throughout the album..
While cliche, “Void” makes the listeners expect an album that will thoroughly entertain. Unfortunately, this is slightly deceiving, as the majority of the rest of the CD is depressing, for lack of a better word, filled with haunting lyrics and melodies.
Many of the songs lag, and make one feel sleepy and/or depressed. Her voice emotes a pain throughout the songs, as if she is carrying around some terrible burden. While many times this adds to the track, helping authenticate her lyrics and showing a genuine vulnerability, there are times when, mixed with the somber melodies, the melancholy vocals can be a bit too much.
The most interesting song on the album is “Care for Some Whiskey,” which begins with an unusually upbeat tempo for Leerone. However, this turns out to only be the chorus, and the verses for this song are just as somber, if not more so, than the others. This is not to say that the music is necessarily bad, although it at times it tends to drone on. There are tracks which are very good and display a wonderful blend of honest lyrics with music that captivates all who listen. The two tracks that best exemplify these qualities are “Here On Earth/The Opening” and “Empty House.”
“Imaginary Biographies” is an album that is fairly monotone, with tracks that weave in and out of each other without the listener realizing that the track has changed. While the music is not bad in most respects, it is doubtful that it will appeal to the mainstream.
Needless to say, Leerone is an artist who contains much potential-as long as she focuses on diversifying her melodies and fine tuning her tracks.