16072014 - Bic Runga "Belle"

When I first heard Bic Runga back in 1997, light and airy, not to mention very radio friendly, pop music was the order of the day. She still hasn't gone "Jazz Odyssey" on us, but on her fourth and so far latest album, "Belle" from 2001, there's a bit more depth as well. She still looks and sounds as elfin as ever, but her songs veer from Lenny Kravitz era Vanessa Paradise via Saint Etienne-isms to songs that have just a tiny amount of dream pop in them, without going all Beach House on us. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Without having heard her third album, "Birds", it's hard to tell whether the transition between the relatively streamlined radio pop of the two first records and the slightly more introvert and experimental (and I use both terms VERY loosely - Swans this is not!) songs on "Belle" came suddenly or if there were any signs of this coming. This is her first album not to reach #1 in her native New Zealand though, so apparently the music here went over people's heads (insert Hobbit joke here) to a certain extent. This is a gorgeous album anyway, and highly recommended for when you want something very light and sweet.