Figure Eight

To start - Julia Darling is truly an experience - a beautiful emotive voice with that New Zealand accent, and songwriting skills that truly do outshine so many other stars out there. Where so few write their own music, much of hers is exclusively her own.The best songs on the album by far are Bulletproof Belief, Grace, and Soak Me.Bulletproof Belief is a simple pop-rock tune with fairly upbeat lyrics. God is not everywhere, and he isn't interested in every little disaster in everyone's life. Julia describes the fact that everyone wastes so much time looking to God, they forget to make their own lives happen. "There is no divine intervention here, just a girl with bulletproof belief."Grace sounds like a heart-wrenching plea for love, just Julia and a guitar. This is when she is at her best. Voted song most likely to make you cry, particularly at the soulful desperate singing of the line: "I'm sorry to shout it out and lose all my grace. Answers don't come easy."Soak Me seems to me to be the sound of Julia asking to have a bad day erased like pain being taken away by a good soak. Favorite line: "I hold the candle down, it can burn its way past the crazy things done to my body, and baby while you're here, could you, would you please soak me."There's no doubt, Julia had room to improve after her first album. It seems to me however that the original reviewer was a bit bitter towards the music that came out of the Lilith Fair era. If you enjoyed this album, I strongly recommend her second album, self titled, and then her new album, yet forthcoming. For a taste of that, check out "Friend of a Friend" on her Myspace: [...]For a different Darling, check out her brother Jon's band, The Grey Race, and their new album, Give It Love.

This is a good female vocalist with some catchy songs and a little pop with edge. I think she stand well on her own and would recommend this...

I first discovered Darling when she opened for Squeeze in Las Vegas. I really enjoyed her set and picked up this disc after the show. She has a very nice voice and her songwriting is strong. Her music if fairly typical singer songwriter fare with a some folk, rock and pop mixed in. Her songwriting is personal and introspective. Highlights of the album include the single "Bulletproof Belief", "Overloading God", "Bury You" and "Soak Me". Darling's stuff is similar to other female singer songwriters, but there is something about her that raises her above the average. She also plays piano and guitar and is very entertaining live.

It's not very often a musician of this caliber makes a quiet intrusion onto the scene, but in the short time since her first American release Julia Darling has gained quite the fan following. This CD offers a little bit of everything for the music lover. Not only does it grow on you and have an amazing replay value, but it's full of passion and love for the music--something the majority of the 'I'll sing for money' pop-types are seriously lacking. Seeing her live is the real treat this musician has to offer. I wish more people had her fun-loving stage presence. (Rivaled only, in my opinion, by Melanie Doane.) She's earned me as a fan, and I can't wait for the next installment in what I hope will be a very long and eventful musical career.

It's unfair of the Amazon.com reviewer to lump all female pop artists together. Of course they're going to sound similar; heck, all of rock music sounds the same from 30,000 feet. You have to look at each CD's individual characteristics. Julia is a talented vocalist, but she also plays acoustic and electric guitar, piano, and percussion. She writes all her songs, and she came up with some interesting melodies that she doesn't drown out in the mix. Check out the clip of Soak Me, which is right in the heart of the chorus (Soak Me, by the way comes from wanting to just soak away your troubles after a long day). The clip for Bury You doesn't do it justice. The chorus reveals a contempt for arrogant people that I'm sure we can all appreciate ("I would like to bury you/underneath your arrogance/...if I bury you would anyone notice you're gone?"). I think the single was Bulletproof Belief, and it's definitely the most accessible song on the album. Look beyond the catchy guitars, and you'll see a woman whose religious upbringing is clashing with the real world: "Is he around when the world is wailing? / Is he around when I am failing? / There is no divine intervention here / promises will never ever serve my dreams." All I'm saying is take a listen for yourself and don't be prejudiced by an Amazon reviewer who can't even spell Sarah McLachlan.

This album is very, very good, but it didn't make that much of an impression on me when I first played it - I felt it sounded familiar. But I'm glad I didn't let that scare me away from this superb disc! As when I listened to it for the second time, I discovered the great songwriting, and fine crafted lyrics. Soak Me, You, Overloading God, they're great songs, and Julia sings them with passion, her voice fits the songs perfectly. I hope she gets her break in Europe soon, so I can catch her live.

This album is very, VERY good! At first listen, it didn't make that much of an impression on me, I felt it sounded familiar. But I'm glad I didn't let that scare me away from this superb disc! As when I listened to it for the second time, I discovered the great songwriting, and fine crafted lyrics. Soak Me, You, Overloading God, they're great songs, and Julia sings them with passion, her voice fits the songs perfectly. Her second album, Julia Darling, is even better - can't wait for MORE of Julia!

I just listened to this disc for, perhaps, the hundredth time. The upfront cold review baffles me. It might be the best disc/artist nobody has ever heard of. My friends that are first-time listeners always want to borrow it. I can't say enough, except thank you to this awesome artist.