Robyn Cage
Tales Of A Thief / Burning Now
Self-Released
Street: 09.25.14 (Tales of a Thief) 09.03.14 (Burning Now)
Robyn Cage = (Florence + the Machine) + Lana Del Rey – Fiona Apple

It is always nice to hear a local musician sound so polished and professional. While not possessing the strongest of voices (its thinness—à la Del Rey—sounds too overdubbed in parts to compensate for what it lacks), Cage’s isn’t an unpleasant one. Opener and lead single “Burning Now” (the separate, three-track release of which features an acoustic take plus an enjoyable lo-fi remix of the song by Park City’s The Planetaries) sounds quite different than the rest of the material and is more intriguing musically, with a clear electronica vibe absent from the rest of Tales’ six tracks. Co-credited to and produced by Darryl Neudorf (Neko Case, Sarah McLachlan), it is a direction that suits Cage better than the stage show musical-cum-reality TV music series numbers that make up those others. Clichéd lyrics—not helped by her music—abound, but fortunately, the exception is the solid and straightforward “If You Don’t Try.” –Dean O Hillis