Album Review by EDF
Heaven’s Burning, a Californian female duo, consist of Angela Santiago Chung who composes most of the songs and Kristy Jones. Between them the duo play both guitar, bass and supply lead vocals. Sounding more like an English Indie guitar group than they really should, the lyrics cover a range of fears and concerns regarding a person’s standing and station in life.
MONDAY starts with the familiar sentiment “Drag myself out of bed, as I stare up at the clock”. Going through the repetitive events of the day – one day something will happen that will change the world. This sentiment is carried over in SHAKE THIS WORLD where “I’ll take this world and shake it violently” is unexpectedly performed as a rap for one whole verse. HOLES IN THE SKIES, complete with the sort of relentless guitar riff Jimmy Page would love to play, raises even more questions, as Chung tries to find her place in a world where “people walk while they sleep”.
DAY ON MY SKIN, probably the best track on the album, is a loose acoustic track with the duo providing some great harmonies. In contrast is the reflective STRIP ME DOWN written after the death of Chung’s father, “Love will burn and we’ll never be the same”. There is a sense that most of the lyrics have a personal meaning to Chung, which is a brave thing to do these days.
With their Alternative sound, it is unusual to have a female duo trying to compete with the big boys. While the performances on some of the tracks are loose to say the least, the listener does get a sense that this duo will be bound for better things.
