An all acoustic album, shared between solo artist Jessica Stephen and a guitar-based duo going by the name Occupied Space, this release unfortunately falls into several traps that often lurk in the path of independent recordings.

Jessica Stephan's brazen and brusque approach to her craft is somewhat reminiscent of Juliet Turner, a similarity which carries into the vocal stylings, but unfortunately the songs contained in this CD aren't as refined as Turner's. Initially, the extremely stripped back sound is refreshing, but before long it begins to taste a little bitter, and Stephan is betrayed by some ill-conceived lines.

Occupied Space have a fairly generic male-acoustic-duo sound, but lack the strong vocals which a new act needs to become established in that particular locale. Keith Gidlund's vocals feel a little flat, and while the playing and writing is adequate, this is yet another crowded genre  and neither Gidlund nor his co-conspirator Peter Stanley bring enough to let them stand out.

The idea of putting artists treading similar waters together to share a CD is a good one, and hopefully the process of preparing this release has been a helpful one, but this isn't a release that demands attention.

James Stewart  10/27/1999