Jennifer Paige - Starflower
by Kevin Wierzbicki
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It's been almost 20-years since Paige had her big hit "Crush" which went to #3 in 1998. A decade later, after the passing of her mom and dad and a cancer diagnosis, Paige left the music business to grieve and fight the disease. Here though is a strong return as Starflower is a set of fresh-faced pop highlighted by the New Wave-leaning synthpop of "To the Madness" and cuts like "Up at Night," "Forget Me Not" and "Let Me Love You," all of which could easily place Paige back on the pop charts. The album's first single is the gauzy "Devil's in the Details," a shoegaze-informed tale about trouble in love land; the song's line "You make it so hard to love you" indicates an end to infatuation as surely as "Crush" signaled the beginning. Paige is palpably happy on "Starflower" and why not; the song title is a nod to Paige's toddler-age daughter. Paige's voice is as endearing here as it was in her early years and the subdued and reflective "January" with its minimal arrangement is perhaps the album's best offering of her vocal talent. Longtime fans will be delighted that Paige has revisited "Crush" here too; a nice acoustic version of the song closes the album.
Jennifer Paige - Starflower
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