Bird York’s coming out party came on last year’s Crash soundtrack, which contained “In The Deep,� a lush and textured number that not only introduced this talented singer/songwriter/actor to the world, but secured her an Oscar nomination in the process. On the track, York’s voice, a deliriously resonant weapon, indicated an artist endowed with the chops and the imagination well on her way to beginning a formidable career. Well, she’s got the chops, that’s for sure, but on her debut Wicked Little High, York’s main problem is a surprising lack of imagination in both her arrangements and her lyrics. Not only that, but the decision to have loopy, sexed-up beats trail behind her at half speed doesn’t help anything. Not that there aren’t moments--“Had A Dream� is as catchy as anything Dido has ever done and “Remedy� has an appealing little sway. But otherwise, the tracks here are fairly bland—the up-tempo offerings seem undercooked (“Open Wider,� “Freedom�) while the ballads seem over-smoked (“Come Be With Me,� “Have No Fear�). It’s not that York isn’t ambitious—many of the songs here showcase her versatility as a musician and find her playing instruments as varied as electronic autoharp and gopichand. But with such nondescript arrangements and far too many lines like “I had a dream that our hearts were like flowers opening up every time that we love,� for a voice as thrilling as York’s the results here are decidedly thrill-less. Too bad about this one.
