Nothing but good karma for Linda Bonadies’ sophomore set Karma. One would never guess that this talented singer/songwriter took a 15 year absence from music. The superb quality of these ten songs would suggest that Bonadies has been writing and singing all her life. Her maturity lends itself to both her lyrics and vocal performance – but there is nothing matronly about Karma. Bonadies’ panache gives her music an unassuming, friendly vibe, like that of a good role model or mentor. Her voice is stripped of any girlish qualities but rather exudes confidence and a graceful presence, like Stevie Nicks minus the excessive vibrato (thankfully).
The opening title track is catchy and upbeat with repetitive “da da daas” that cannot help but get stuck in your head. The straight ahead melody is a simplistic definition of karma itself: what goes around comes around. David Coe’s electric guitar solo in the bridge continues this accessible trend by only slightly straying from the melody with his embellishments. Ultimately Karma ends with another tune at almost the same tempo to neatly wrap the album and bring it full circle. “Lead With Your Heart” continues with the realistic, self-analyzing lyrical advice that brushes up but never slips into the realm of cliché.
Sandwiched in between these two numbers is a fabulous array of adult contemporary gems. Bonadies conveys that life is not always rosy in “Runaway Train.” The well-written instrumental opening is accentuated with piano atop quick percussion. By the second verse a nice string arrangement has entered the mix. As the song progresses, so does the wall of sound until the coda where the electric guitar plays over the percussion and ends with a stinger. The most unique track on Karma is “Stir Crazy.” It strays from the pop realm and hinges on a more hard/Goth rock feel with a heavy amount of echo effect on Bonadies’ voice and a repetitive, singular note melody. The suspended cymbal and strings add to the dramatic effect and is an excellent departure from all the other songs on the album.
One of the most delightful qualities of Bonadies’ songwriting is her exquisite ability of making the most of her background vocals. “Take Nothing For Granted” exhibits excellent vocal layering wrapped around Kerry Takahashi’s lovely cello work. The background vocals in the innocent love song “For A Night” have an endearing Carpenters quality, minus their signature oboe/trumpet solo. The countermelody in “The Way It Is” is first rate with more notable acoustic guitar work by Coe. Bonadies’ confident vocals are never grating but can at times have a rough curl around her “r” sounds. This makes the duet “You” with Tony Burnett not work quite as well. Both vocal deliveries are great but their voices are not the best compliment for each other. At times Burnett’s vocal line is above Bonadies’ yet her voice is not quite so low that it makes for the song to have an overall excess of treble sounds.
Nonetheless, the blend on the entire album is great, Bonadies’ songwriting skills are phenomenal and the music loving community is incredibly fortunate to have such a talented artist back in our midst again.
Review by Kelly O’Neil
