Artist: Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas
Title: Secret Evil
Genre: Dark Soul / Pop
Release Date: 14th August 2015
Label: Instant Records/ Membran
Review Flash
Energetically bursting forth from gritty Detroit comes the debut album by genre-busting JESSICA HERNANDEZ & THE DELTAS. Sizzling with verve and infectious darkly twisted optimism, it lunges from THE GOSSIP-sounding opening ‘No Place Left To Hide’, through the smoky lounge-room croon of ‘Cry Cry Cry’ via the bouncing delight of ‘Dead Brains’. At times it’s as if AMY WINEHOUSE was still alive and hiding out in a spit-and-sawdust bar, and the vocals are central throughout ‘Secret Evil’. Always perfectly in your face, it’s a voice that won’t be ignored although there’s still plenty of room for the rest of the band to show-off, best heard on the sizzling ‘Caught Up’, a song Tarantino has probably already eyed-up for his next movie. Finishing up with impossibly burbling ear-worm ‘Downtown Man’ and the gentle ‘Lovers First’, there’s no fat anywhere on this focussed, intelligent and charming album.
Conclusion: When people say “they don’t make ‘em like they used to”, they’re wrong. They do. And here’s the proof.
Rating: 8 / 10
