Let's start with the beginning. I'm a huge Deep Purple fan, and a huge Blackmore fan. I absolutely love dP with Steve Morse and I am terribly dissapointed in Blackmore's current and recurrent project Blackmore's Night. So when I heard that Steve Morse was gonna be doing something somehow similar than Blackmore-meaning a more acoustic project fronted by a female singer- I was less than excited, but still interested.
First of all, I'd say that Sarah Spencer is no Janis Joplin or Kate Bush, but she has a nice smooth voice.
The songs that Steve wrote are very Steve Morse-like (think Sometimes I feel like screaming meets material from his solo works), but played in another mood, a softer mood, that really suits Sarah's voice.
The arrangements are amazing, and even if there isn't quite a groundbreaking song, they all fit nicely together and create a nice patchwork of soft-rock songs, country-type songs or ethereal compositions and even sometimes the usual Morse shredding. Sometimes "heavenly", sometimes more down to earth, this album really requires more than one listening to get into. There's a lot of depth in this album, the production is very clean but not sterile, the playing is simple-or so it seems-but not boring.
Frankly, this is a very good surprise, I'm pleased that I tried it and din't just push it aside just because of some clichés or prejudices.
If you like steve Morse, and would like to hear his softer side, go for it!