Luna Rossa - Secrets & Lies (2014)

Secrets & Lies is the 2nd album from LUNA ROSSA, the acoustic project from award winning vocalist Anne-Marie Helder & her songwriting partner, Jonathan Edwards. This album sees them expanding and developing the sound first heard on their 2013 debut Sleeping Pills & Lullabies . While there is sometimes a more layered feel to the music here, the simplicity of the arrangements and the melody in the songs have been retained throughout Secrets & Lies . Most of the songs are again built up around a grand piano or guitar part, but this time around, double bassist, Andy Coughlan (Cerys Matthews), who appeared on a few of the tracks on last year s debut is now a constant presence throughout the new album and the duo have also brought in harpist, Sarah Dean, to accompany them on several songs. Engineer and co-producer, Tim Hamill, has also contributed some beautifully subtle electric guitar work to a number of the tracks. Once again Anne-Marie s voice takes centre stage and the instrumentation and arrangement of each song provides the perfect setting for a series of beautifully poised performances. Alongside the album s nine originals, Secrets & Lies also features two interpretations of other people s songs: the first being a cover of Todd Rundgren favourite Tiny Demons , which features some exquisite soloing on piano, flute and guitar from Jon, Anne-Marie and Tim. The other cover is of a lesser known Dusty Springfield song, written by Randy Newman I ve Been Wrong Before which features a beautiful string arrangement played by the Luna Rossa Quartet. The duo chose the title Secrets & Lies as they felt it reflected the raw materials that songwriters work with... in essence all songs are either about revealing secrets or telling lies, or sometimes both at once... a song that touches us can reveal a truth that we didn t realise that we knew until we heard it expressed through the song, or it can tell us comforting lies that hide a harsher reality. The hand painted artwork for the release has been created by talented young illustrator, Karl James Mountford, whose individual style perfectly complements the feel of the music.