On Lily's iPod: "The Mating Game" by Bitter:Sweet

It never fails. While I love clothing and shoes, I can control myself to the point where I can be in and out of my favorite shops in less than 30-minutes. It could be Christmas and I have to come up with 30 gift baskets for the office, not have the slightest clue where to begin, but make it out of the IKEA in less than an hour. Last minute gift for a forgotten party? Give me 20-minutes and the nearest Target.

However, you get me in a music store and it’s like Lex Luthor chaining a block of kryptonite to Superman’s chest. THANK GOODNESS! My latest trip to Virgin Records yielded what might be my best music purchase all year! After spending about a 2-hours walking up and down the aisles and actually picking up and setting down THREE different CDs, I fell in love with the band Bitter:Sweet.

I’ll start off by saying that Bitter:Sweet’s “The Mating Game,” released in March 2006, is the album I would record if I were that musically talented. Founding and former member of electronica wunderkinds, The Supreme Beings of Leisure, Kiran Shahani pulls together musical arrangements to create a very seductive and hip sound. When you listen to the opening strains of the first track, “Don’t Forget to Breathe,” you feel like you’re listening to an updated spy movie soundtrack (If anyone from the James Bond franchise is reading – please consider this a BIG hint for the next movie).

In fact, the whole album carries the weight of familiarity. The music is just that cool! Shahani fuses retro symphonic beats (think the 70’s Burt Bacharach or Tom Jones kind of dramatic overtures) with a definite synthesized background (think the buzzing sounds of Moby or Paul Oakenfeld on their “quieter” works). Each song is finely crafted and has a cinematic aesthetic. It’s almost like each track is a one-sided conversation, rather than a song.

And the driving force of that conversation is the siren-like, jazzy vocal of Shana Halligan. Her voice is the cornerstone to Shahani’s musical house. While each song on the album has a different musical vibe, it’s Halligan who brings it to life. In the funky, laid back “Overdue,” she taunts by singing, “I’m sorry baby, but you just drive me crazy.” The way she sings it is the equivalent of a sassy middle finger as a scorned woman walks out of her lover’s life.

The Latin fueled title track as well as “Heaven” shows Halligan’s delicate delivery. She milks every lyric for whatever mood she can pick up. By far, my favorite song that combines both Shahani’s sense for mixing good music and Halligan’s talent is “Dirty Laundry.” It’s an absolutely cheeky song that will bring out the vixen in any woman with lyrics like:

“…what’s the fun in playing safe?
Wouldn’t you rather misbehave?
I’m just a bad girl,
That’s why we get along.
Won’t make excuses for
Anything I’m doing wrong…”

Overall, “The Mating Game” is a new, flirty soundtrack that puts a smile on your face and a sultry bounce to your step. If you listen to this CD and you don’t feel like you should be slinking around a club with a martini in your hand, you need to get out more. With Shahani’s musical ear and Halligan’s sexy voice, Bitter:Sweet will be thrilling listeners for as long as they want to.