Gretchen Lieberum - Siren Songs (2005)

"Timeless Soul Music." ---S.F. Examiner, Bill Picture

"Based around lush, lazy grooves, Gretchen's album is emotive, layered trip-hop that's fully organic, intimate and inviting." ---Ink 19, Stein Haukland

"Gretchen's voice is so beautiful, the Musicianship is so strong...Grade A" ---Mean Street Magazine, Andrew Asch

“Siren Songs” is the aptly named latest release by Gretchen Lieberum, a seductive and sophisticated vocalist whose beautiful lyrics and sultry voice evoke a dreamy state of mind. Ensconced in catchy retro rhythmus and a lush soundscape of organic and electronic grooves, Gretchen’s songs have a way of transporting you to another time and place, effortlessly conveying moods and locales of moments gone by, full of nostalgia, longing and love.

Comparisons to great songstresses of yesteryear like Billie Holliday are fitting because of Gretchen’s ability to emote, but the music on this record comes off more like Goldfrapp or Zero 7. The instrumentation is beautiful and serene like the voice, but in an incredible counterpoint performance it is not afraid to go to some very dark places such as on the hauntingly spare chords and spaced out vibe of “Can You Hear Me” or in the melancholy musical wanderlust of “Avila.” And in some cases the music is gorgeously surreal, such as in the wave of sound that slowly comes to a climax in her song “Opus.” With new musical ideas and creative interpretations of old Jazz standards, such as in the first track "Key Largo," Gretchen reminds both old Jazz lovers and new Trip-hop gurus that artists can still expand the boundaries of style. The album never loses energy or enticement; it keeps you involved the entire way through, ending with "Grace," a song that leaves you willing to give your right arm to be longer. The songs are all at once lyrical, thought provoking and wonderfully familiar. As she notes in the lyrics of her song “Paper Tigers”: it’s easy to lose yourself in the hazy glow. And losing oneself in the hazy glow of “Siren Songs” is a welcome retreat into this talented artist’s musical soul.