This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Sarah Slean’s middle name is flamboyant. Though it could just as easily be eccentric, quirky, eclectic or just plain freaky.
On her fourth full-length Day One, the Toronto singer-pianist presents more evidence to further the theory that she is the spiritual love child of Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Tom Waits and Hawksley Workman — with a little Sally Bowles (or at least Amanda Palmer) thrown in for good measure. But this time out, cabaret-popster Slean also gets into a whole new groove. Day One is Slean’s most rhythmically dynamic work yet, with funkier backbeats, choppier guitars, livelier percussion and more all-around bounce to the ounce than you usually find in her minor-key piano-girl torch ballads. Coupled with the off-kilter appeal of her girlish voice, poppier cuts like Luckier Me wouldn’t sound too far out of place on a Gwen Stefani solo album. If that isn’t the sign of a new day for Sarah, I don’t know what would be.
