Forbidden Fruit  is strong and spunky

Lindi, a Toronto singer-songwriter, soars above expectation with her strong, fun, and intelligent debut album The Taste of Forbidden Fruit. With ten songs filled with passionate lyricism and solid arrangements, this album is sure to make the avid music listener an instant Lindi fan.

From the celtic "Nothing At All" to the country-twinged "Tomorrow You'll Say Goodbye," Lindi showscases her talent for incorporating different genres of music into her writing. "A Little Peace" brings a little 1960s anti-war flavor to the album with its rootsy folk sound, while the Tori Amos-like "Sweet Jezebel" and jazzy "Naughty Little Thing" reveals her 22-year-old spunk. On the latter, she seductively growls: "All I want is your dirty rotten love."

There is certainly no trace of contrived songwriting on this record. Adding a bit of twinkling piano on "Coffee Shops," she sings romantically, "I'm drunk enough to fall in love/Floating on the wings of a dove....We fall asleep in coffee shops/Forgetting where the subway stops/Wishing that the night would never end," whilst she croons wistfully but dramatically on "Misery My Love": "I am the blackness/I am the darkness of this night/Don't you drag me/Don't force me out into the light." Yes, certainly no artificiality here -- just very rich and creative musicianship.

With an enchanting and impressive vocal range, Lindi makes sure her listeners feel every bit of hurt and happiness in her songs. And she accomplishes just that with every single track. Forbidden Fruit is a wonderful treat that has unquestionably whet my appetite for more music from this undoubtedly talented emerging singer-songwriter.