Casey Desmond
No Disguise

Review By Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
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  Casey Desmond comes right at you with No Disguise, her second studio recording. Her words are not a mish mash of mixed messages like some of the nonsensical musings you hear, it is the exact opposite, and every track packs a punch because of her honesty. Desmond is one of new breed of multi tasking indie musicians and in addition to that has her parents involved with studio production and managing her career. If an artist is fortunate and has the talent and right situation, like Casey Desmond, then why not find your own way or better yet let it find you. Casey is being recognized for the exceptional talent she is doing things the indie way and she has management that can be trusted implicitly. What more could you possibly ask? I understand there a few well-known producers that want to work on the next album with the Desmond team, so that could be the next step in pushing her career to new heights. Casey is already hard at work writing and recording the next album so I am anxious to hear how it turns out.

Casey has a Jewel meets Pat Benatar vocal style, its powerful, sexy, breathy, and very clear and understandable. She can get into the lower register then suddenly turn around and belt out a Mariah Carey like falsetto that will blow you away (check out "Julia Butterfly"). Casey not only has incredible range and appeal with her vocalizations, she is a very prolific writer and talented musician- playing guitar, bass, piano, Moog, and has a hand in the programming and production end of things. The icing on the cake is that she has all the looks to complete the package. She recently made the cover of Improper Bostonian magazine, which is ironically quite an honor for an up and coming musician in the Boston area.

There are 12 tracks on this CD and every one has tremendous value while maintaining their own identity and purpose. That in and of itself is a huge denominator that makes this album a complete success from top to bottom. The music and Casey's voice has a great crossover appeal that could pull in the 8 to 60 age group. She is that good and so is the music. This CD rocks with polish and style and its Casey's voice that gives it that all-in-one appeal that you just cannot define completely. I think mentioning the fact that Casey won the MuzikReviews.com Video and Pick of the week contest is notable as her competition was 64 other artists and many of them were very good. Artist like Casey Desmond stand tall and so far above the rest, and that becomes obvious when you hear just one song.

While every track could easily be a single I would go with my personal favorite, the curtain closer "Situation Girl." The melodic pop-rock tune demonstrates her innate ability as singer-singwriter-musician with an amazing future ahead that could bring her the acclaim she so richly deserves.

The title of this album says it all, Casey Desmond has No Disguise and if you had all your cards to lay on the table and had no reason not to, what is there to hide? As a music fan and critical listener I appreciated this music and all the great melodies and words that came pouring out my speakers non-stop. This is a great album.

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