Among the emerging post-bubblegum backlash of down-to-earth, in-your-face female singer/songwriters is attitudinal Aussie
Gilli Moon. Her self-produced
Temperamental Angel deals with time and distance, salvation and deception, solitude versus loneliness, and all the other underlying themes of postmodern existence in the big bad city.
Moon is a singer/songwriter of the old school. Her lyrics are intensely personal, her melodies either guitar-driven or vocally driven. However, no vocal pyrotechnics or acrobatics are on display; her voice is closer to Gwen Stefani or even
Janis Joplin than
Tori Amos or
Kate Bush. One gets the feeling that the process of creating the album was as much a cathartic process as a creative one. The results are engaging and thought provoking -- and very easy to identify with. In the title track,
Moon sings, "I'm a sucker for conventional romance/And I've never truly experienced the chance/To be treated like an angel." Definitely words that most women these days can relate to. In "Plenty,"
Moon explores modern misconceptions and revelations about success and wealth, stating, "I'm heading for the land of plenty...maybe if I look around I'll recognize that I've arrived already." On tracks such as "Swimming" and "Disgrace," one can imagine
Moon gnashing her teeth in fury and despair. In "Time," she takes a more detached, contemplative tone. One thing is blindingly clear from the first time that one hears the album or reads about its creator:
Gilli Moon is in music for the love of it, and she's in it for the long haul. ~ L. Katz