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| 1997-06-00 | — | Rod Moody - Microsoft Music Central |  | Hello - Poe
r e v i e w
The debut album by Poe is a triumph of style over substance. Traipsing through a variety of musical paths, Poe and her cowriters (and there are many) show the value in covering a lot of ground while keeping their roots in one place. Poe's singing style is detached and cool, as a casual observer's would be, but keeps the edge on with her attitude, which is that of a person who has conquered her demons and has made it beyond the obstacles that are outlined in her sometimes bleak scenarios. However, there are cracks in the psyche, which are most evident in the song "Trigger Happy Jack," supposedly based on a true-life incident in which Poe was chased in her car through the hills of L.A. by a gun-waving psycho. In it, Poe outlines the attacker's sadistic tendencies while acknowledging her own masochistic needs: "And I hate myself just enough to want him/But I hate him just enough to get off/Maybe I'm just crazy enough to love him/Why not?" The same kind of vibe permeates "Angry Johnny," which appears to be all about revenge and spite, but she adds a twist with a measured pause in the line, "I want to blow you ... away."Of course, it's probably all for shock value. After all, those songs are what made her famous, right? It's unfortunate that because of those two examples, she has been lumped into the Alanis Morissette School of Angry Young Women, because there is more to Poe than that. Hello is a work of transition: a launching point for someone who could feasibly evolve into a huge talent. Her singing voice rates high on style, but she's not a diva by any stretch, and she has the tendency to sing annoying melody lines that remain in the back of the cranium forever (the "da-da-da-da-da-da" bit in the title song being a prime example). Her lyrics are largely superficial, but she occasionally delivers lines that are thoughtful, well-written, and tricky to figure out.
So why is Hello worth buying? As a whole, this album flows very smoothly through a pastiche of different styles and reference points. The ultraromantic "Fingertips," in a groovy soul-jazz setting, recalls Nina Simone or Sade, while the jivey "That Day" and the simple folk of "Fly Away" seem to cull their inspiration from Joni Mitchell. "Choking The Cherry" and "Another World" point to the current eclectic state of dance music with their discordance, heavy sampling, and the added bonus of terrific hooks, and "Beautiful Girl" is a plaintive but enchanting ballad that makes it clear to all that there is a heart behind that cool facade. The bottom line is you can connect the dots; no matter how far away they are or what direction they go, they all come together as one. Despite some flaws, there is a lot of poe-tential lurking in this album, but the odds are that her next release will be the one that really shines. The future looks bright.
by Rod Moody
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