Ana Lucia s/t"

(Ramo) The stunning Lucia won our hearts in Chicago with the great Busy Signals, but her new solo LP transmits signals galaxies farther than her fine former band. At first I was a little unsure because the amazing music here – recalling the kind of hook-infused period glam pop that engaged in playful 50s and 60s nostalgia – didn’t seem to match Ana’s serious, deep, unplayful vocal range. But then I played it again. And again. And again. To days later I’m beyond convinced. There are two songs on the b-side, “Hush Hush,” and the sublimely-borderline-cornball-but-ultimately-not-corny-at-all-because-that’s-what-sublime-means-in-this-case “Mess Around” that would be fighting it out to be ‘our song,’ if I was dating myself. I’m going to go listen to this for two more days now…