Sunday 14 June 2009

The Promise - Bif Naked

The Promise
Bif Naked
Her Royal Majesty's Records
ASIN: B00265PPFW

Release date May 5th 2009

Bif Naked's new album is an incredible mix of all that makes Bif a Queen of the Canadian Music scene. In the last few years she has overcome breast cancer and been married. Both of these have helped to influence and shape her music in a new way. There is an incredible mix of pop, rock, metal and techno. Few artists can pull off such a range let alone in a single album but Bif manages it well.

From the first track Crash and Burn we have the powerful refrain "if I am alive for the first time, I must have died inside so I could let go of things that weren't mine, I'm crashing and burning, you're crashing and burning we're crashing and burning". Then there is the oddly addictive song Honeybee, that sounds like a classic 50's or 60's rock song with intensely modern lyrics: "There's been a murder, in my kitchen, I hit him hard, I hit him fast, I watched him die, but for the life of me, I'm still missing an excuse, an explanation, a good reason why." Odd lyrics considering her recent nuptials, yet maybe not odd but openly honest as merging households can be difficult. The most popular track thus far is F**k You Two, in which the voice moans the loss of a lover to the opposite sex. The lyrics declare: "I'm losing my world, Cause you're leaving and I'm dying without you, So now I am nothing to you, So f**k you too".

This album is light and energetic in its feel and music yet deeply intense and pervasive in the powerful lyrics. Over all it is an excellent album and a great addition to the Bif Naked Canon. The only album I think is better as a whole is 2005's Superbeautifulmonster. Yet The Promise does have a depth and quality that will endear it to fans old and new alike.


Track Listing
1) Crash And Burn - 3:33
2) Sick - 3:40
3) Bluejay - 3:54
4) F**K You 2 - 3:15
5) Honeybee - 2:53
6) You'll Never Know - 2:53
7) My Innocence - 3:28
8) Red Flag - 3:26
9) Ciao, Bella - 4:05
10) King Of Karma - 3:14
11) Amazon Motel - 3:43
12) River Of Fire - 3:45
13) Welcome To The End - 3:57
14) Save Your Breath - 3:04

(First Published in Imprint 2009-06-12.)

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