Adalita Srsen provided she had a promising career outside of Magic Dirt when she recorded “Double Dare” for the Suburban Mayhem soundtrack, she then teased her audience with the release of her 2010 EP which featured “Hot Air” the first single of her now released self-titled debut album.
Unlike a lot of artists before Adalita doesn’t allow her solo project to simply mirror her band (in this case Magic Dirt). In fact the rough rock styling’s of Magic Dirt and nowhere to be seen and the best way to describe Adalita’s new style is severally experimentally.
As you would expect Adalita is laden with sadness, not surprising considering that the album’s producer and Magic Dirt member, Dean Turner died during the album’s creation. As any great musician would Adalita captures the melancholy feelings beautifully on the album and you really do feel that the album is a tribute to Turner’s memory.
The slow style of “Hot Air” suites Adalita’s vocal styling and while this and tracks such as “Perfection” will take Magic Dirt fans a while to get to used to, you do actually soon find yourself loving the “sadness” the album portrays.
“The Reporter” sees Adalita break up the sad moody feel of the album by introducing a beautiful melody to the chorus while “Jewel Thief” continues the mellowness but also brings a strong folk sound in parts.
Perhaps the best track on the album though is “Invite Me” which showcases Adalita’s song-writing abilities and is a great mix of spoken word and smooth lyrics. It is the kind of song that any music lover will return to time and time again.
The melancholy but catchy “Good Girl” sees Adalita announce that “I am a good girl again” which symbolizes her change from Magic Dirt member to a solo career while “Lassa Hanta” is a smooth instrumental track that allows your mind to wander.
“Fool Around” once again shows Adalita’s ability to capture heartfelt emotion in her songwriting while “Goin Down” is faster-paced and consists a blues guitar line, which also complements the bluegrass feel of closing track “Night Orchid”.
Adalita really isn’t an album for the pop-set. It is however a fine album that will be well received by true music fans. Adalita is a work of art.
