CD Reviews
The Way of the Heart
Dawn Productions
“The way of the heart” can mean two things: It could be the path your heart takes along the road to (and from) love; it could be how it reacts — then again, those are, in essence, probably interchangeable definitions, aren’t they? Whatever the meaning, trying to understand the heart is not an easy task and trying to convey how and why it makes us do the sometimes crazy things it does can be just as hard. But when Valerie Lemon peers into the heart of a young girl who musters every bit of strength she can find to ask a boy out on a date in Brian Lasser’s poignant Hello, Tom, she lets us know perfectly well the “why”; it’s that search for someone who will tell us that we’ve been noticed too. When a mother makes a plea to god not for herself but for her children, Lemon is speaking for anyone who’s ever held a child in their arms. And when she turns to Amanda McBroom for Dance and The Way of the Heart, she explores McBroom’s revealing lyrics with warmth and honesty.
— Jeff Rossen
