Goya Dress---Rooms--She was telling you the greatest secret in the World.....

There's not much I can't do.....

I'm sitting here listening to Astrid Williamson singing, so if I was in a bad mood, you know that I'm not right now. Astrid was in Goya Dress, and Rooms was their sole full length, released in 1996 on Nude Records.

The album was produced by the esteemed John Cale, and I must say that is simply stunning, a superb melding of art and melodicism. Astrid Williamson has one of my favorite voices in pop music, and over the years I've picked up all her solo albums except her most recent Pulse. But you know, being born with a great voice is a great gift, but its what you do with it and how hard you work sometimes. Sure, you might get into the finals on American Idol, or one of those other crappy reality shows, but in addition to having great pipes, she also is a compelling songwriter and musician. Hailing from the Shetland Islands in Scotland, she has carved out a critically acclaimed solo career but far less commercial success than warranted. She is the "diva" that no one is telling you about.

Rooms was never released in the U.S. as far as I know. A real head-scratcher, because it is a very compelling intelligent edgy record.

Astrid Williamson: Vocal, Guitars, and Piano
Terry de Castro: Bass and Backing Vox
Simon Pearson: Drums

Trust me, this is a secret classic album of the 1990's that no one has ever picked up on. I did a post about Astrid's first solo album I am the Boy for You, and I would also recommend that very highly.
She has one of the voices that make your hair stand up on the back of your neck. Oh, yeah, and she happens to be beautiful on the outside too.

The album begins with the strong Sweet Dreams for You--quiet verses leading to powerful choruses with standout vocals, a harbinger for the rest of the album. The second song is Crush, which sounds like the first single, or maybe the number intended to go on the soundtrack, but there is a light endearing quality about it.




The title track, Rooms, is one of the highlights, with nice piano work by Ms Williamson, and a string section. Seems like the perfect vehicle for Cale to work with. One of my favorites. The following song Greatest Secret, is a strong guitar driven vehicle with strongly emotive lyrics.




Maybe the biggest number of all here is Glorious, and it is huge and lives up fully to its title. For me it is the band at the heights of their powers. Which make the album deceptive because this song is near the middle of the album; the last 4 songs are strong, but not quite up to Glorious. You have the sublime piano and strings of Katie Stood on the Benches, the harder rocking pop of Any John, the jazzy finale The Maritime Waltz, and the epic six minute melancholy opus Picture This.





This album would be a great candidate for a reissue with their singles appended(like the above song from the Bedroom Cinema ep), but I'm not holding my breath about it. It is true that they did a lot of good things on Eps before Rooms arrived. Astrid continues to make fine albums and once in a while she tours a bit, though I have yet to see her live. Check out this album and I think you will agree that its unfortunate that this band didn't make more music together.

And of course I owe a debt to America's finest music magazine, The Big Takeover. I would have never known of Astrid were it not for Jack Rapids support for her music. Issue #72 of the Big T will be shipping soon! It only comes outs twice a year. With mainstream magazine failure becoming a running comedy joke (and a tragedy for journalism and the public), music magazines need support from the public more than ever. If you are interested in great modern music, you need to subscribe to this magazine!