Reviewed by Dustin Helgeson From the Republic of Panama comes this Latin-tinged pop album: a refreshing change from the usual rock and pop music. The album starts out with a surprising instrumental guitar piece and melts into the sound of the ocean on the worshipful “You Alone”, interweaving Spanish and English in beautiful contrast. “For This Reason” is an excellent guitar-flavoured pop piece suitable for radio. “Dangerous” is a soulful, catchy song about a relationship: “Temptation is too hard to resist/It’s dangerous…you’re dangerous.” Thanks to excellent musicians, such as Dan “El Skinny” Mellado, who plays all guitars, bass and keys, this album stands out. Pamela Clark’s voice is smooth, warm and sometimes sexy, bringing images of the tropics to mind. There’s a lot of space here and nothing feels rushed. “Save Me From Me” has the floating chorus that declares “ I’ve got to break free…/Jesus come and rescue me from me.” The production is tastefully done in a way that compliments Clark, such as the reverb that is well utilised on her voice. The album ends with a heartfelt cry about the events of Sept 11th, 2001, interweaving Clark’s lyrics, which speak of how many Americans felt, with the powerful words of George W Bush, speaking after the attacks. So breathe in deep and relax to ‘Simple Man’s Daughter’.
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