Sunday Star Times

19 November, 2005

"If you leave aside the pre-digested schmaltz of Hayley Westenra, and you really should, then Bic Runga is New Zealand's biggest-selling female artist. Her albums, Drive (1996) and Beautiful Collision (2002), have sold 105,000 and 165,000 copies here respectively, as well as a good few thousand overseas, and "Get Some Sleep" made the top 10 in Ireland and Japan as well as grazing the UK top 40. Which means there's an awful lot riding on studio album number three, for Runga and her record company.

To keep Runga's more discerning fans happy, the new album needs to feel like a progression from the youthful bedroom ruminations of Drive and the articulate orchestral pop of Beautiful Collision. And to sell well and consolidate her burgeoning overseas success, it needs to contain a couple of plausible radio hits.

Fortunately, it succeeds on both counts."

To read the full review, click here.