Catie Curtis

January 25 - February 1, 1 9 9 6

***Catie Curtis

TRUTH FROM LIES

(Guardian)

This long-in-coming follow-up to Curtis's 1991 debut was well worth the wait. Whereas From Years to Hours was unfocused and occasionally affected, Truth from Lies revels in clarity, control, and concision. The Brown University-educated former social worker has come up with a dozen straightforward original tunes that are brightly unassuming gems. Producers Darleen Wilson and David Kershenbaum (Tracy Chapman) keep the folk-pop arrangements simple and uncluttered, mixing Curtis's rich, natural vocals up front. Taking greater care on the writing so that each syllable falls in the right place, Curtis wrings meaning and tension out of every phrase. "Dad's Yard" is jazzy, conversational (recalling Rickie Lee Jones). "Slave to My Belly" boasts a swooping melody (Maria Muldaur). "The Party's Over" revisits Cinderella the morning after the ball. "Radical" says that "alternative" lifestyles need not be considered such. "The Wolf" is "Luka" redux. But the high point is "Silhouette," an energetic folk-pop love song with Bruce Hornsby-like piano and a few pop hooks that suggest Curtis ought to indulge herself -- and her listeners -- more often in such guilty pleasures.

-- Seth Rogovoy

(Catie Curtis plays Johnny D's on January 30, the Old Vienna Kaffeehaus on February 4, and the Iron Horse in Northampton on February 6.)