"Starbelly" by Dante

a Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds

This is the third release from New York's Dante which is both the name of the lead singer and the band name. The other band members are: Huss (guitar/vocal), April, (drums), and Josh D (bass).

Theresa Dante is a talented woman, no doubt. She has studied classical music since she was a child and has a degree in music from NYU. She has a low smoky cabaret-type voice. The music is a bit jazzy, a bit rock.

The songwriting is interesting, and far from ordinary. But it's also "sticky". By the second listen it's already familiar.

Many of the songs on the CD have a certain "corporate event act" sound that I can't quite wrap my head around. But that very well could be the production. It feels like there are some "fills" missing. Not instrumental, but in production. It seems sparse, but that doesn't match the music for me. It feels like the songs need a more rich sound.

"I Believe" has a cool bass line.

My favorite track is "Empty Streets". It reminds me of Siouxsie Sioux. On this song the production is just right, in my opinion.

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