Fortress Round My Heart

Ida Maria Sivertsen has a powerful voice that conjures so many classic-rock associations it's a wonder she doesn't get lost amid all the references. On her debut album, Fortress Round My Heart, she howls like Janis Joplin, with a bit of soulful vibrato that almost sounds like grandstanding. She rasps like Courtney Love, similarly steeped in cigarettes and alcohol but without the manic aversion to actually making music. Ida Maria effervesces like Katrina Leskanich-- of Katrina & the Waves fame-- which brings to mind one-hit-wonder pronouncements (but what a hit). Chrissie Hynde is another touchstone, not only for her commanding presence but for her assumed sexual authority as well. And then there's that curious Sting reference in the album title, but let's give her the benefit of the doubt and call it a coincidence.

While her vocal enthusiasm is commendable – there’s plenty more lyrical bounce to this debut LP than was evident on, say, the similarly pitched Operator Please’s Yes Yes Vindictive album – there’s not enough bite to Ida Maria’s zesty jump-around-the-room pop-rock for it to really impress. Fortress Round My Heart drags its heels more often than it kicks them, leaving its makers’ explosions of endearing energy exposed as the rarest ingredient in the Norwegian singer’s writing formula.