This sophomore effort from singer-songwriter Amy Arena is the polar opposite of her
angsty spoken word diatribe-filled debut album, which was released in the mid-90s by
Domo Records. Apparently, Arena’s experience with regard to the release of her debut
album was less than satisfying. As she states in her bio, she was “taken for a ride by the
music industry”, which “sucked the wind out of her”. In fact, Arena’s bio reads like a
very traumatic narrative as she recounts rather candidly the trails and tribulations she
has faced. Which presumably gives Liquid Reality reasonable context for its listeners to
consider.
Liquid Reality as a whole – perversely enough – comes across like a 80s-styled album.
The music is presented in almost plastic hues with glossy production values but somehow
this fits in very well with Arena’s catholic musical approach. There is a wide palate of
genres and styles from which Arena paints her sonic pictures and while this is somewhat
out of step with almost everything that is happening in the modern rock scene circa 2011,
this approach is probably the panacea to all that ails the modern rock scene, such as it is.
Certainly fans of the 80s output of Sparks, Stevie Nicks, Madonna and Concrete Blonde
will find much to enjoy about Liquid Reality.
The album opens with the Material Girl-channeling “Firecracker” which – though it lacks
the hyperventilating overkill of modern pop production (yes, we are talking about you,
Katy Perry) – contains enough substance (especially in its mellifluous chorus) to maintain
even the shortest of attention spans. The hook of the percussion track (highly reminiscent
of 80s dance – think: Paula Abdul or even Queen’s Radio Gaga) is worth the price of
admission by itself. That all said, the overall sound is a little patchy and the track comes
across like an elaborate demo in parts. A nagging suspicion that “Firecracker” is still a
work in progress is hard to shake.
Arena changes tact quickly with the slinky blue-eyed soul of “Bluejay”. With synth
riffs intertwining electric piano chord patterns and complicated rhythms, “Bluejay”
contains a driving groove that will bore a hole into the listener’s consciousness fairly
quickly. “Believe” takes the jazz route as Arena adopts a torch persona to deliver a fragile
narrative with a breathy, sultry vocal that makes the little hairs on your head stand. “Next
Level” might just well be Arena’s only concession to the spoken word exercises of her
debut album. It seems deliberately atonal and confrontational with accessibility low on
the agenda.
“Ashes” continues with the jazz-soul excursions, though with slightly less conviction.
Coming across somewhat clichéd and mundane, it seems that Arena has reached the
logical limit of this particular style. It is on “Ashes” that Arena recalls the 80s Fleetwood
Mac clone, Quarterflash! With “Nevermind Me”, Arena begins the second half of the
album with a musical show-type number that relies on dramatic cues to nail the cold pain
of the victimized female of the species, the subject matter of the song.
The title track introduces Beatlesque pop into the scheme of things and it is a welcome
addition! With mellotron strings performing psychedelic washes of trippy sound, this 60s
pop pastiche is a wonder to behold and includes a tongue-in-cheek “A Day in the Life”
sustaining piano chord false ending to boot! This retrodelic mood is carried through to
the following “Mind’s Eye”, with its Gilbert and Sullivan operatic leanings. “Strange
Behaviour” jerks the listener violently back into the 80s, as Steve Nicks is conjured
through this gorgeous evocation. Finally, the closing “Crashing” is sophisticated folk-
meandering that concludes the album on a strong note.
For the discerning music lover looking for greater substance over superficiality, Liquid
Reality comes highly recommended!
Review by Kevin Mathews
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Kevin Mathews
Genres: Pop, Rock
Kevin Mathews is a well-respected music writer (based in Singapore) and has written for Singapore newspapers like the New Paper & TODAY, print magazines like BigO (Singapore), Amplifier, Pop Culture Press (USA) & Bucketfull of Brains (UK) as well as online zines like his own Power of Pop blog, MTVAsia.com & PopMatters.com. Kevin is also a singer-songwriter, perhaps best known for his #1 hit song, “My One & Only†with Watchmen in 1993 and has released four albums and three EPs with Watchmen, The Crowd and Popland respectively. In addition, Kevin is an accomplished film score writer.
