Fans of either Liv Kristine or Leaves' Eyes will be thoroughly entertained by this album.

Norway’s Liv Kristine is well known in the music world, not just for her band, Leaves’ Eyes, but also her three previous solo albums and work with several other bands. If you need a beauty to compliment your beastly vocals (Cradle Of Filth), or just a great voice to compliment your own (Doro), Liv seems to be the person to call. Over the last few years she has bounced between solo work and Leaves’ Eyes, and, to be honest, whilst the band stuff tends to give me a bit of a yawn at times, the solo work has been more upbeat and accessible.

One thing about Liv Kristine is she’s not a shouter. Whilst she has an excellent voice, she doesn’t belt anything out, and this can get a little frustrating at times. For example, the second track on the album is a great, upbeat number called ‘Solve Me’, and I just wanted her to let loose, to show power as well as technique, but it was not to be. Still a great track, don’t get me wrong, but with a little something missing. I fully understand that this might just be me, but even Kate Bush let rip occasionally!

Unsurprisingly, ‘Libertine’ has a fair mix of upbeat and ethereal tracks, and personally I am rather fond of ‘Vanilla Skin Delight’, a duet with Tobias Regner (German TV talent show winner), complete with a galloping drumbeat, a decent riff, a catchy refrain and a title that sounds like a shower gel. Definitely the best track on the album, this is begging to be a single (if it already isn’t). Then, there’s ‘Paris Paris’, which reminds me of Blondie, and almost certainly would have been a hit for them back in the day. The softer songs are more of a mixed bag, pretty much universally floating along without causing too much fuss, and there’s a few in the middle, such as the title track, which has a superb flow to it and a to class guitar solo. Right at the end, she tackles ‘The Man With The Child In His Eyes’, originally by Kate Bush, and it’s a nice, if functional cover that suits Liv’s voice.

My main problem with ‘Libertine’ is that I’m really not that excited by the slower tracks, but to be honest that’s generally how I feel about slower tracks in general. With that in mind, I am very sure that existing fans of either Liv Kristine or Leaves’ Eyes will be thoroughly entertained by this album.

Alan Holloway