FESTIVA CD REVIEW: Kerli - 'Love Is Dead'

Kerli is an anomaly of sorts. The white-blonde singer with an airy voice grew up in post-Soviet Estonia (yes, it's a real place and not made up for the movie Encino Man). She claims she didn't really have any musical influences, except Bjork, which incidentally, she does sound like, but there are other artists who spring to mind when you hear the tracks from her first full-length album Love Is Dead.

Gothic-infused pop is the best genre to describe Kerli. If she had a hit on this album, it would likely be "Walking on Air", an effervescent yet creepy song with decidedly optimistic lyrics. In fact, for a girl who looks like a doll designed by Tim Burton, Kerli is surprisingly positive - the opposite of the image she gives with the album's sound and cover.

No, that isn't Natasha Bedingfield making a guest appearance on the third track, "The Creationist", but it might as well be. They do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - so Alanis Morissette, Fergie, Pink and Amy Lee of Evanescence are all receiving compliments from Kerli.

That is not to say the 21-year-old Kerli is completely unoriginal. A lot of her songs sound similar to those artists mentioned, but not replicas. Though I couldn't help but think of Fergie's "London Bridge" when I heard Kerli's "Creepshow", the eighth track. Skipping the song won't be necessary for me though, since Kerli's best songs are the first three on the album.

2.5 out of 5 stars