Album Review: Passion, Prayer and Poison by Karen Vieno Paurus

KAREN VIENO PAURUS: Passion, Prayer and Poison

Album Name: Passion, Prayer and Poison
Artist: Karen Vieno Paurus
Year/Label: 2008 / Independent

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Review by Anna Maria Stjärnell

Karen Vieno Paurus has a smoky, rich voice that she uses well on her new record. She approaches a sort of dark cabaret style and has her own slant to it.

Opener Smoke is sort of P.J Harvey raiding Jill Tracy’s repertoire and finding intriguing new sounds there.

Find is a bluesy, rich concoction that works well, Paurus supple vocal supporting the tune.

She covers Tom Waits Jesus Gonna Be Here and gives it her won flavor, while maintaining the originals’ spirit.

Her album concludes with a an equally deft rending of the Waits/ Keith Richards co-write That Feel proving she likes the master of eclectic music a lot.
You don’t need to be a Waits fan to like this album, but if you are it’s an added bonus.

This is one of the best albums I’ve heard in a long while. I’ll be watching this artist to see what she does next.

Track Listing
1 Smoke
2 Black Cherry Kisses
3 Found
4 I Do
5 Jesus Gonna Be Here
6 Release
7 Sans Batteries
8 That Feel

[Karen Vieno Paurus Official Site]

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