Radiator starts off promisingly with the upbeat "Downpour," which recalls early Shawn Colvin recordings. "Still Alive" has interesting lyrics, where the listener is invited to "love me while I'm still alive" -- seemingly directed at those with a tendency to eulogise after the passing of somebody, with Brianna Lane suggesting that these feelings would be better expressed whilst she is still on "this side of the light."

"Sad Songs" finds Lane bemoaning a dysfunctional relationship; "I can't save you from your colourful dreams and I can't save me from you." One can be thankful not to find oneself the subject of this particular song and on the receiving end of Lane's withering put-downs: "your selfish little hand writes them down with a poison pen, you take your time with each excuse."

Lane reminisces about her childhood on the touching "The Good Guys," where she sings a sincere, heartfelt gratitude to her mother; "we did well with what we had, my childhood wasn't all that bad, my mom played roles of mom and dad."

As I neared the end of the album it became harder to distinguish one track from the next. I found the lyrics were often impenetrable and Lane's voice can become somewhat monotonous after a while. The musical accompaniment throughout the album is competent but nothing out of the ordinary, and there was certainly nothing that I felt worthy of mention in this respect.

There are a few good songs on Radiator that hint at a potential that isn't quite realised throughout the entirety of the album. It's an oft-repeated cliche, but maybe this is Lane's "difficult" second album.

by Mike Wilson
Rambles.NET
2 December 2006

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