Album Review: Jessica Says - Do With Me What U Will

Melburnian Jessica "Jessica Says" Venables' live shows fall somewhere between karaoke and cabaret, weaving live cello, keyboard and breathy vocals around pre-recorded beats.

Her second album — and first major release since recovering from a serious accident in 2010 — distills this same theatrical minimalism into its ten studio tracks. The cover portrays Venables on a bed on all fours, with a SpongeBob SquarePants balloon within arm's reach, evoking the blend of kitschy and risque to be found therein. Lead track Xanax Baby sets the pace with its delectable double entendre, "I'm a Xanax baby, but I want to get off."

Vocally, Kate Bush is an obvious comparison, but limited, as Venables reconstructs an array of vintage and contemporary sounds. Xanax Baby has a '60s pop lilt that recalls The Shangri-Las; Venables channels Debbie Harry on the menacing Look So Good Feel So Bad, and the bluesy strings-led Fun Factory has a hint of The Bad Seeds about it.

The songwriting displays an audacity and strong sense of identity redolent of Venables' hero Lady Gaga, so that there's congruity despite the diversity. As such standout track Oliver, a piano-driven epic with staccato strings and a gorgeous cello solo, sounds right at home next to the balls-out disco and unsettling distortions of Queen Of The Night.