Music Review: Set Me Free
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that Marion Raven's lyrics tend to
focus on the disappointments that lead to the death of romance.
Innuendo is mild, though many of the songs poetically deal with
a lover's infidelity and/or loser-potential ("High on a
hill/heard a bird sing her song/sang you were true/Well, she
got it all wrong" on "Crawl"; "Now I'm standing in the
cold…Atomic winter in my soul…The only remedy I
know/is I gotta let you go").
Families can talk about romantic breakups, and how to negotiate
the tough feelings when a relationship doesn't work out.
Sometimes a creative outlet like songwriting or poetry can help
get us through hard times. Do you think that Marion Raven's
lyrics came out of her personal experience?
Searing guitar solos and strong vocal performances define Marion Raven's SET ME FREE, as the artist negotiates the sometimes tough terrain of love and loss with admirable vocal skill. Most of the songs affect a thrashing mid-tempo, drama-queen ambiance that can get a bit tedious, and Ms. Raven's vocals are definitely stuck on "intense," but there's some lovely poetry, dealing almost entirely with love and relationships -- the good, the bad, and the stupid.
Vocal and instrumental performances are skillful and effective; production and mixing are unimaginative but leave a lot of room for this 22-year-old, Norwegian-born singer-songwriter to strut her considerable stuff.
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