When Toonyun (aka, Shirley To 杜安恩) speaks of "crooked love", she could be talking about her philosophy of life, or romance, or music - or an alternate title for either of her two eclectic EPs, "3" & "Just So You'll Love Me" or the recently released “It’s Not Me”, featuring her long-time friends and collaborators, Geoff Pearlman (guitar) and Troy Zeigler (drums).  Each member of the trio brings a different set of influences and musical sensibilities to the party, but these all combine seamlessly to form something greater than the sum of its parts - a truly unique and ethereal blend of the Eastern & Western musical tastes; Bjork and rock-n-roll;  tender, romantic songs and "crooked love".

 

The musical inventiveness does not come at the expense of accessibility – the melodies are instantly hummable, yet still grow on the listener and reward repeated plays.  The turns each song takes are not obvious or predictable, yet always seem to work, whether they encompass Asian melodies, American gospel influences, Bossa Nova rhythms, or something which defies concise description.

 

The EPs play like the soundtrack of a David Lynch or Paul Thomas Anderson movie (in fact, several of the songs have already been featured in a short film) – you’re not immediately sure what it all means, or how it fits together, but ultimately it all works, and in spectacular fashion.