While
Sarah Blasko
was busy capturing the listening hearts of Australia (and more than a few overseas), she collaborated with a pair of fellow singer/songwriters, each of note on their own, over a few years. The eventual culmination is
Seeker Lover Keeper
, a triple threat of sorts from
Blasko
,
Holly Throsby
, and
Sally Seltmann
. As the trio members make their way through the album, they trade off lead vocal duties from song to song (though
takes the lead on the most memorable tracks, using her signature form of lilting power). On the power of the vocalists, the songs manage to impart at once innocence and world-weariness, and it's a careful balancing act to combine the ends of the spectrum. Nonetheless, the three manage to keep on top of the balancing act, consistently producing interesting tracks that showcase not just the fine vocals from each, but their interplay as they harmonize. The tracks here that suffer only suffer comparatively -- because so much of the album is at such a high level, the tracks that are only "good" seem that much weaker. Because
's vocals are so sublime, the merely excellent vocals from
Seltmann
and
Throsby
seem to suffer in comparison. Because the deeper, piano-based melodies are so strongly crafted, the lighter, poppier numbers seem like fluff in comparison. Such is the course of the full album -- because it's so well crafted, the parts that would seem excellent in other albums come off as something less. It's a rare, but excellent problem to have. ~ Adam Greenberg