Diane Birch
Bible Belt

Raised on bread and gospel, with practically no contact with popular culture due to her father's wishes, an Adventist pastor whose work required him and his family to move around the globe, Diane Birch is a talented singer-songwriter and pianist who, in 2009, after gaining attention on MySpace and signing a contract with S-Curve Records, released "Bible Belt", a remarkable debut album entirely written and composed by her. Remarkable mainly because, at first glance at the cover, it might seem like you’re holding a CD by a Lily Allen or any pseudo-indie pop starlet, when in fact it's an album of a completely different caliber: it's actually pure and simple soul, with heavy gospel music influences which for many years were the only music Diane was allowed to listen to. However, the "influence catalog" doesn't stop there: the ghost of Laura Nyro is present throughout "Bible Belt", as well as that of Carole King and, last but not least, the Elton John of his best days (listen, for instance, to the piano in "Ariel" and "Rewind"). There is also some reference to Fiona Apple, noticeable especially in the quirky "Choo Choo".

However, it was soul and gospel that were mentioned first: here we are presented with the perfectly fitting choruses of "Mirror Mirror", "Fire Escape", and "Fools", with some more playful parentheses like the super catchy "Valentino", which once heard and stuck in your head, never leaves (also, go watch the charming music video that accompanies the song, truly successful and original). There’s no shortage of some nods to R&B, always obviously infused with gospel ("Rise Up", "Don't Wait Up") and some slightly more pop pieces ("Photograph", "Nothing but A Miracle"). The whole is obviously pervaded by a retro atmosphere that, given the influences and musical genre, was inevitable to encounter during the listening, but that not everyone would have been able to render at this level: despite being recorded with modern technologies, the work results in being anything but cold or artificial like that of much more famous colleagues (the overrated Amy Winehouse above all), indeed, it almost seems as if the album was composed and released right in those years to which Diane musically aspires. A round of applause, therefore, to the producers and arrangers, who managed to make "Bible Belt" a work out of time, yet current and pleasant, also thanks to Birch's voice, warm, deep and pleasantly nasal, as well as extensively valid. If we really want to find a flaw in this debut, we can note how it doesn't introduce any novelty in a musical genre that, due mostly to the trend initiated by Winehouse and carried forth by her colleague Adele, is now quite inflated; don’t expect, in short, the schizophrenia of a Janelle Monáe and her neo-soul or some daring experimentation, but who said that this must necessarily be a bad thing?

In conclusion, "Bible Belt" is a well-made album, well played and excellently sung, that doesn't innovate a musical genre, but doesn't even propose to do so and which might appeal to those looking for some pleasant background music for the summer afternoons that are (unfortunately? Fortunately?) fast approaching.