Tiffany Apan- Poet

ARTIST: Tiffany Apan

ALBUM: Poet

LABEL: Self-released

REVIEWER: Matthew J.

DATE: 1-16-10

Singer and songwriter Tiffany Apan has an incredible amount of promise, as demonstrated on this album's first track, "Ghost," a lovely piano ballad that highlights her vocal range with ethereal layers that build like cloud strata as the song reaches its chorus. Unfortunately, the rest of the album never quite lives up to that promise. "Porcelain Doll" immediately takes things into standard gloomy gothic territory, and while Apan's vocals are still filmy and delicate, they're not enough to make up for formulaic lyrics. "A Prayer" is even worse, thanks to a blandly plodding drum machine and an inappropriate guitar solo by album co-writer and co-producer Jason English. Tracks like "Ashes to Dust" and "Warrior (Soldier for Myself)" also feature a strong presence from English, whose gothic metal influences tend to overwhelm Apan's voice and whose arrangements are epic but ill-suited to the more intimate feel that marks Apan's best work. One gets the feeling that were English and Apan to enlist a full band, and most importantly a live drummer, they'd be able to approach the grandiosity of groups like Lacuna Coil or Evanescence, but as a two-person studio recording it never quite comes together. On the other hand, there's a nicely dreamy rendition of traditional folk standard "Scarborough Fair" as well as country-tinged closing track "Whispers," as bleak and lovely a take on dark Americana as anything off of the first Cowboy Junkies album. There's no doubt that Apan has talent, it's just that judging from this album, she hasn't quite figured out the best way of displaying it yet.

Visit Tiffany Apan online at www.tiffanyapan.com.