Taja Sevelle has come a long way since she was a late 80s jailbait
heartthrob from Prince's
Paisley Park stable.
Now in her mid-twenties, Sevelle's
Toys of Vanity
is a quirky and seductive mesh of alt rock and deep house soul. Sevelle's
siren song vocals squirm and coo through these tunes in an arresting wall of
sound.
The genuinely eerie sounding "I & I" opens things off with a bang, a druggy,
hazy view of looking at your life from the outside. "Subconscious Me" is a
multi-layered musical mind-fuck. "Wake Before I Die" does show her old
mentor's influence, but it still feels like a completely individual
statement.
These songs are the direction of 90s dance and will move the floor at your
next rave.
(4/98)
