Blink
Artist: Plumb
Label: Curb Records
Length: 46mins
 
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Think of a lullaby album and you're immediate impression is likely to range from 'sickly / twee' to 'not worth thinking about'. Time, then for the iconoclastic Blink, a collection that Tiffany Arbuckle-Lee (for she is Plumb) has dedicated to her youngest child, but which is still true to who she is as an artist.
 
Plumb's music has ranged from Evanescencism to more middle-of-the-road AOR,  and she has won a strong reputation for song-writing. So how does this disc translate those qualities to writing lullabies?
 
The writing has a long-term edge: songs that the children will understand more as they grow, rather than appealing purely to their nursery instincts – and which will also connect deeply with any parent wanting to share these expressions of love. That said anyone who wants to meditate on God as their loving Father could love this disc.
 
These lyrics are all wrapped up snugly in strings, swelled guitar, a glitterball of twinkly piano, washes of shimmering programming and background gloopy noises that a lava lamp might make if it were an instrument - so it will also be great for anyone who just wants to enjoy a warm sound bubble bath. 
 
But there is still power in these tracks. “In My Arms” is powerfully protective, as potent a song as she has written: 

            Castles they may crumble,
            Dreams may not come true.
            But you are never all alone
            Cause I will always love you
 
She follows it with "Always", which is equally strong. Opening track "My Sweet, My Lovely" has plenty to take in, setting the listener up for the lush blanket of sounds to follow.  On "Children of the Heavenly Father" – one of two traditional songs – Plumb is accompanied by an Eastern-sounding violin.
 
Although the songs lose some of their edge later in the disc, this is still a disc worth checking out if you have any love for Plumb's music or like to bathe in chilled sounds.
 
Derek Walker