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Dani Siciliano, "Slappers"
Dani Siciliano’s second album starts out well, but it has trouble maintaining both the momentum and the high standards set by the first couple of tracks. While her voice sounds better than ever, unfortunately the music doesn’t always do it justice.
The album starts with a couple of playful, danceable songs with good beats that only get better as they unfold. It’s a great beginning, but the extra effort seems to have drained the energy from the songs that follow. Siciliano spreads herself thin when she tries to get serious, and the transition from the silly "Why Can’t I Make You High" to "Frozen" is abrupt and painful. This vacillation between having fun and being serious additionally causes the album to lose focus.
It’s also too bad that she relies on the music to carry the ideas as much as she does, because it’s her voice and the vocal melodies that are the real draw here. She’s at her most sultry and intriguing on the otherwise overly repetitive and static "Be My Producer," yet she’s much too restrained on "Think Twice." Far too frequently, she introduces musical elements that detract from the song, like the cartoonish accents on "They Can Wait" or the rising synth on "Frozen" that grates rather than builds tension.
The electronics don’t always serve her well, and there are some spots where her voice seems out of place among them. The few instances of acoustic instruments included on the album are a good foil for her vocals, and she comes across as more confident and natural in their presence. While dance music is pretty forgivable as far as lyrics go, many of the album’s lyrics aren’t very compelling, like this line from the title track: "If you speak, then speak your mind/Use your head, not your behind."
This album has many enjoyable moments, but its inconsistency hampers any potential greatness.
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