Ingenue

After many incarnations and adventurous forays into progressive musical territories, on INGENUE K.D. Lang finally found an artistic persona she was comfortable with: The Chanteuse. Lang is a vocalist of an unparalleled depth in contemporary music. Adept at phrasing and actual vocalising, Lang's palette ranges from the subtle to the bold--always on key, on the edge, and in control. INGENUE displays a subdued K.D. Lang; a powerhouse singer who reins in potential histrionics and sings in a full, dynamic voice. Her job here is to sing, and tell the stories she needs to tell. meer...

INGENUE coincided with lang making her personal life a public issue, and the songs on the album all reveal an inner turmoil. On "The Mind of Love", Kathryn Dawn Lang sings "Talking to myself, causing great concern for my health, where is your head Kathryn, where is your head?" Most songs deal with love, whether it has been won ("Still Thrives This Love"), lost ("Season of Hollow Soul"), in full lust ("Wash Me Clean"), or unspoken (the Joni Mitchell-ish "Outside Myself"). The album isn't all heavy-handed examinations, though; there's the peppy nouveau-cabaret "Miss Chatelaine", and the award-winning track that sums it all up, "Constant Craving".
An album to savour, INGENUE presents a mature picture of a woman's world of longing and desire, and Lang expresses it in a clear, powerful, well-defined and well-controlled voice.

Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.56)
- Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."

Village Voice (3/2/93, p.5)
- Ranked #12 in the Village Voice's list of the 40 Best Albums Of 1992.

Q (1/93, p.71)
- Included in Q's list of the 50 Best Albums Of 1992.

Rolling Stone (4/30/92, pg.57)
- 3.5 Stars - Very Good - "...pleasingly intimate and puts proper focus on Lang's voice, a clear-toned jewel embellished with the slurs and blue notes of a jazz singer...a quietly compelling work..."

Q (4/92, p.79)
- 4 Stars - Excellent - "...an overwhelmingly sensual atmosphere...INGENUE is open, self-assured and sexy as a cobra..."