- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Her arrangements are music-hall clever, her erudite lyrics reference the most arcane subjects, and her flapper-vampy voice camps up everything to the point of burlesque.
-
The breadth of Avi’s influences is apparent on her self-titled debut album, but she still creates a unique and extremely charming persona of her own.
-
Zee Avi is a gentle record, a good morning record, a future staple for the hungover or stressed out.
-
Yet while the album includes its share of blandly pleasant songs--the kind that could position Ms. Avi as a less arty Feist--there are also glints of melancholy clarity that promise more.
-
The Borneo-born Avi gives much of the album a warm, old-jazz feel, but flat lyrics like "I shed tears I couldn't dry" make several of the songs sound like woodshedding material.