Falling Hard Jae

Falling is an impressive debut album, particularly for a singer/songwriter who didn't even start guitar lessons or writing songs until she was almost thirty. Most debuts are derivative of or at least readily comparable to bigger names, but it's hard to place Damon next to any convenient benchmarks. The confident layered production and mix of pop smarts with artiness recalls Kate Bush in sensibility, perhaps, though Damon's voice doesn't sound at all like Bush's, and her material is less pretentious. While the songs tend toward the gently melodic side and the lyrics toward the give-and-take struggles of romantic and sexual relationships, there's an uneasy kick to the way they're spun, perhaps influenced by her own extensive academic work in psychology. Her voice has an appealing shy sultriness, and while her foreign accent is noticeable, actually it sounds kind of cool, without impeding the vocal clarity.