Veda - Weight Of An Empty Room (CD)

All Music Guide

Veda begin this debut record with a nononsense, rock solid, indieish tune that showcases Kristen May and her fine, somewhat fragile voice on Trade This Fear. Sounding a bit like the lead singer from Sixpence None The Richer, May opens the song with a midtempo, moody groove that downshifts before hitting the catchy, radiofriendly chorus. Song For A Friend falls into the same mould, a sort of adultcontemporary pop effort with just enough edge or bite to make it gel in the vein of an early 10,000 Maniacs. The murkier the tone of the song, the finer Veda come across, especially on the melodic The Falling Kind with its Curelike sensibilities. Lover's Lie has "single" written all over it, resembling a cross between Lisa Loeb and Nelly Furtado. The momentum continues though with a pleasing, melancholic approach on Desire On Repeat which might have you putting the song on repeat. Unfortunately It's All Happening On Broadway opens in an airy, light haze prior to shaking the cobwebs out and gett...ing down to a punchy, pop rock blueprint. May lets loose and breaks out during the bridge with better than expected results. The record moves into a hard rocker format with tracks like Still Standing yet never veers into Evanescence territory although Safe comes quite close. She moves back into familiar ground with the tender but rockoriented Moments Rewound that shines thanks to the tight rhythm section of bassist Jason Douglas and drummer Drew Little. An acoustic version of Lover's Lie concludes the album, one which will attract many listeners for its wellcrafted arrangements and May's fine performances. - Jason MacNeil, All Music Guide Read more Less