The Places You Dwell

The Place You Dwell, Amanda Rogers' debut full-length album starts out with an a cappella number, setting the stage for her intense, focused performance through ten songs. The second tune is where the piano and keyboards pick up, and they never let off. Coupled with her Tori Amos-sounding vocal work, the keys are always soft but determined, and never too far over the top. The structure thus forces the listener to contemplate the lyrics and listen as the vocals and piano accentuate each line. As is normal on a singer/songwriter album, much of the material is quite personal and yet obtuse, allowing the listener to draw their own interpretation to the meaning of the songs. While Rogers does evoke a certain amount of emotion with the music and her vocals, the songs could certainly use some peppering of variation with instruments and style. Still, with a voice as gentle yet driven as hers, positive things should be on their way for Amanda Rogers.