Blue on Blue, the debut solo album from the former lead singer of
Sixpence None the Richer, is basically a natural evolution of her years honing her craft. The result is a very light and melodic record brimming with tight but not overly produced tracks that would fare well alongside
Sarah McLachlan and
Natalie Merchant, especially on the pretty opener "Along the Wall" that has sweet harmonies. She also manages to steal the spotlight with her soft, steady pipes on the tender midtempo and somewhat melancholic "Nervous in the Light of Dawn" that sounds like she's covering something by
Stevie Nicks. A slight orchestral flair accenting the tune doesn't hurt either.
Leigh Nash makes the melding of roots and folk with pop quite well judging by the cheerful toe-tapper "My Idea of Heaven" with its quaint melody and reggae-like vibe running underneath the song. The first ballad is the
Coldplay-ish "Ocean Size Love" that has her sounding like a cross between
Norah Jones and
Dolly Parton with better than expected results. The biggest asset the album has is that there are no peaks, mainly because there are no valleys, with "Never Finish" being another surprising nugget of radio-friendly, adult contemporary pop. The first track that is at best adequate is "Between the Lines," which sounds like it has fallen through the cracks somewhat, a rather run-of-the-mill pop tune. A better effort is the cute "Angel Tonight" that brings to mind
Michelle Branch or
Vanessa Carlton in some respects, while she rocks out a bit with the edgier "Blue." The album concludes with "Just a Little," which has a distinct lullaby quality to it in the vein of
the Beatles. ~ Jason MacNeil