It's all fun and games until someone's feelings get hurt Lissie

Catching a Tiger is the début album from Illinois’ pop newcomer Lissie Maurus. Lissie’s first offering is advanced in that it contains all of the necessary ingredients for immediate pop success, gorgeous drawling vocals, and plenty of catchy hooks. The album comes dangerously close, but is not quite there yet. In this case, it is less tiger and more domesticated pussycat. It’s not a record bound for the litter tray, but is nothing spectacular.

Lissie is backed by a veritable dream-team of musical followers from Ed Harcourt to Band of Horses and these influences paired with that of folksy soul goddess Norah Jones are evident throughout the album as Lissie takes her listener through genres from folk and pop to country and soul. This girl has more soul than Sarah Jessica Parker has shoes. Tracks like the Annie Lennox-esque Bully take us on a vocal rollercoaster whilst Little Lovin’ showcases her musical understanding, mixing folk with indie-pop to create a hoe-down that all the cool tragically chic kids would be happy to go to. In Cuckoo, cliché lyrical charm and drawling vocals combine to create a track Shania Twain would clamber for.

The album’s strongest track is Everywhere I go an acoustic track which showcases Lissie’s impressive vocal range and knowledge of musical arrangements perfectly. The glucose-drenched grit of her voice is reminiscent of Norah Jones whilst the lyrics’ tending towards quirky nonsense evokes the charm of Band of Horses to perfection. Here is a simple sugar-laced track free of all pretence. This is Lissie as artist at her finest and shows her true musical potential.

Unfortunately, the final third of the album takes a turn for the depressing, leaving behind Lissie’s gorgeous drawl and substituting it for a foray into Gospel which gives the record a noticeable slump. The album builds so much musical energy that we come to expect something wonderful to finish it off, and are unfortunately disappointed. Worried About is one of the weakest tracks here, as it makes an unwelcome attempt at being ‘different’. Lissie has the impressive vocal range to allow her to pull off any note, and yet her voice becomes pitchy here in her attempts to sound more up-to-date. Disjointed melody mixes with overly-explanatory lyrics to create a song which feels awkward. 
 

The final track Oh Mississippi is bland background noise that doesn’t inspire us to hit the play button and begin the experience anew. It is an odd choice for an album closer considering that it leaves us nothing but the very action of ending. The up-side to this disappointment is that Lissie has clearly done something right with the first sections of her album if, after one listen we can listen to a track and bemoan the loss of her special qualities.

Catching a Tiger is a solid pop record with boundless potential for Lissie to tap into. Once she finds her artistic feet in the music world, Lissie will be one to watch.

Ciara O’Brien