My Glass Eye

Does Beth Thornley want to be all things to all people? More likely she doesn't want to be stylistically pigeonholed, an easy abyss for singer/songwriters to stumble into, and so she's deliberately made My Glass Eye defiantly diverse. Almost every song on the set falls into a different genre, from the shimmering pop of the opening song, "Stand," to the down-home blues of the hidden final track, as Eye casts its gaze across musical fields and finds them all equally delectable. Be it aggressive punk rock or a rich piano and cello ballad, the jerky rhythms of alt-rock or even a melancholy tango tinged with echoes of Fun Boy Three's "Tunnel of Love," Thornley feels at home, while her vocals are as eclectic in style as the songs themselves. But far from the album being a chaotic kaleidoscope of sounds, multi-instrumentalist Rob Cairns' extraordinary production gives this eclectic set a surprising coherence. Even the most kick-ass number, "Mr. Lovely," creates open space for Thornley to control, while on quieter songs, the atmospheres seems to pool around her. It's obvious the arrangements were built around Thornley, each carefully crafted into the perfect backdrop for the singer and her lyrics. And those lyrics are equally instrumental in melding the set together, with their sharp-eyed and skewered views of life and relationships. Filled with clever twists, Thornley turns words, phrases, and even marketing slogans inside out and their meanings upside down, jolting listeners time and time again. Her lyrics offer much to savor, but there's a distinct tartness to them that beautifully offsets the sweet (but never sugary) edge of her voice. All in all, Eye is a musical feast wrapped around a meaty lyrical meal, a succulent banquet to behold.