“Perth based, blues inspired, bona fide rock chick Abbe May impresses with her powerful third album – Design Desire.
For a girl who claims that she doesn’t crave the spotlight she proves that she has every right to stake her place in it, with this guitar driven, angsty offering.
From the opening bars of the title track “Design Desire” the mood is set to take you on an exhilirating rollercoaster ride through this incredibly diverse collection of tunes.
“Design Desire” starts off hard and dirty, hitting you with grinding guitar riffs and seducing you with layered moody vocals. The pace slows a little for the more vocally centred “Universes” yet still impresses with its hard hitting riffs.
This girl possesses an amazing voice and as she grows as an artist and her source of inspirations in her writing grow and diversify with her, she is becoming a force to be reckoned with.
“You Could Be Mine” is reminiscent of the shift of songwriting to centre more around love and loss than on her previous 2 albums. Her strong vocals are more the focal point in this song with the strong riffs taking a back seat. It’s a little quieter, a little slower but just a little. Regardless of their pace, Abbe’s songs don’t really suit being played softly.
The beautifully layered harmonies on “Blood River” are haunting, and disguise that the song is actually about an illicit affair with a much older,married man. This is an incredibly diverse collection of tunes. It’s moody and edgy, and the pace ebbs and flows and takes you on a magical journey.
This is not for the faint hearted – dark and broody, this is a strong, powerful offering from a very talented singer/songwriter.”
