The cover art shows four white birds hovering around a key hole which gives a glimpse of a sun drenched island surrounded by exotic plants and flowers. Singer-songwriter, Kathy Zimmer is charged with unlocking the door to this promise of paradise with a half hour set of 6 songs which her publicists describe as "fanciful and sweetly regretful".
Ms Zimmer specialises in a personable style of harmony rich 'classic' folk-pop songs, with a voice she apparently honed by singing at church services, rodeos and local gigs in her hometown in rural Nebraska.
It's not hard to imagine her being smitten in her youth by singers like Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell, women capable of expressing personal joys and sorrows in universal terms.
The problem with Kathy Zimmer's songs, however, is that they rarely suggest that any attempt has been made to give any deep poetic perspective on commonplace events. As a result, in the opening song, 'In the park with George', going out for an Indian meal or wondering if she'll see the guy again simply sound like details and reflections transposed verbatim from entries in her diary.
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Elsewhere, lyrics just seem superficial or misjudged. On 'Whatever gets U thru the day' she sings : "Like a gravedigger needs the sun ..... Like a housewife needs to know her worth..... Like a murderer needs his kill" - a pretty creepy juxtaposition of images that might work if the mood was more menacing but which sounds completely out of place with the 'tasteful' backing and sentimental tag line "Baby it's you" .
Ultimately, these are songs which adhere to a safe, easy listening formula that do nothing to offend but offer little to excite.
A regretful case of paradise postponed.
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