Sierra Swan – Ladyland

Sierra Swan
Artist: Sierra Swan
Title: Ladyland
Label: Interscope
Rating: 4.5/10

FILE UNDER: Unremarkable pop.

CORPORATE LINE: Sierra found herself surrounded by music at a very early age. Her father was the prominent guitar sideman Billy Swan, who wrote, performed and toured with Kris Kristofferson and Kinky Friedman, among many others. Her sister Planet is also a singer, and was another source of music in her childhood. “I actually grew up fighting the urge to tackle music, but I was also completely mesmerized by it. I saw first hand what a weird lifestyle it can be and truth be told, I wanted to play basketball or dance, but sometimes you have to follow your fate and this is clearly mine.” The final sign towards her musical journey came at 13 when she and her family went on vacation. “I remember going to Vegas and watching The Jordanaires perform with this Patsy Cline tribute singer. I was so excited and elated. It was the closest thing I was ever going to get to see the real Patsy, and after hearing and seeing that show I pretty much knew that it was time to get serious about the world of music.”

From that point on, Sierra did exactly that. The songs started coming to her at age 16, and she almost immediately began performing at the Insomnia coffee house in Van Nuys. At 18, she had already established a weekly residency at Goldfinger’s in Hollywood. “I really started to understand what performing and songwriting was all about. Granted, I was churning out some pretty terrible stuff back then, but in the process I was starting to find myself and my direction. I realized that performing is like a little high and I guess you could say it’s the healthiest drug I’ve ever done,” confesses Sierra.

THE GOOD:
Nothing.

THE AVERAGE:
“Copper Red” – This is a song that doesn’t go far enough to wrap you up in the “insecurities where I like to dwell.”
“Ladyland” – The entire song sounds the same. It requires a lot of energy to enjoy and music shouldn’t be like that. “I want to be a mother/ not somebody’s brother”—that doesn’t even make sense.
“Don’t Say” – The chorus almost digs the verse out. The despair is palpable. On a Tori Amos album you might buy it hook line and sinker—however Swan never gets reels you in.

THE BAD:
“Get Down To It” – “I was climbing the hills in my mind” isn’t much of a metaphor when its surrounded by more nonsense.
“Just Tell Me” – Painfully slow.

FRANKLY: Sierra Swan has a sexy, siren beauty and voice. The problem starts and ends with the songs. None of them are a siren call. If you listened to the album in the record store there wouldn’t be one song that would inspire you to buy it.

+ Rae Gun


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