Kerli: Love is Dead

Kerli hits a delicate balance: packaged as a blond goth doll, her music blends together the familiar and the slightly disturbing.

MTV is currently pumping the video for her song "Walking on Air," which is heavy with gothic images, marionettes on strings, and Kerli herself as a girl trapped within a box, a dream within a dream. Without these trappings, the song is actually an upbeat pop melody with soft vocals and mentions of "creepy" "funny" things. The song catches the listener, and is a good example of her musical style. However, this is hardly the best or most emotional piece on the CD.

"Love is Dead" starts strong with the title track. The production of the piece is big, Evanescence style, with Kerli proclaiming that "Love is dead... love is gone... and love don't live here anymore... am I what you think of...when you're beside her?"

For a goth wannabe, there are a lot of influences of pop/rock. "I Want Nothing" sounds like a song that Avril Lavigne would have sang a few years ago,but without Kerli's stronger delivery and authentic edge. " Happy within your disguise... watch how the child in you dies, circles inside of your mind."

There are surprises. "Up, Up, Up" has a reggae flavor behind it that lends well to the depth of Kerli's voice. "All the people going up....as all the people staying down down down."

And speaking of her voice, there is a pleasing heaviness to it. The best tracks utilize the sound of it, rather than pre-packaging the sound into a whisper of a little-girl-emotionless-doll. The darkest material is what shines best: "Strange Boy," "Creationist," "I Want Nothing" and "Love is Dead" are all standouts. The harder edge serves her vocals well.

Kerli, a native of Estonia, was signed to Def Jam records by L.A. Reid. She worked with David Maurice, producer/songwriter/ mixer who previously worked with Garbage, to create the tracks for her debut album.

Influences here are easy to spot: Evanescence, Avril Lavigne, and possibly Bjork. However, the blending of the influences, and the hopeful lyrics make the music fresh and interesting.

Kerli wrote her own lyrics. On her song "Creepshow," she sings "I come from a town called Elva, Estonia/ no one knows where it's at, no..."

The music is catchy, fun, slightly dark ear candy that grows on the listener over time. There are a few missteps, but overall the CD is worth the listeners time.