God Forbid - CD Review
The St. Petersburg Times
by Pop Music Critic Gina Vivinetto
published Jan 23, 2005
Fans of the acoustic rocker have begun to realize that Little Lorna is all grown up. The Indian Rocks Beach-based Bracewell, who studies political science at Flagler College in St. Augustine, has matured into a powerful singer-guitarist since her start as a kid drummer in a Christian rock group.
God Forbid is the 20-year-old's third album and the title only hints at its edgy material. Bracewell tackles the issues that obsess her: gender inequality, domestic violence, sexploitation, and on a purely human level, the power of lust. Bracewell's words have never been more sublime; she's now a top-notch lyricist, able to handle heavy themes without sounding heavy-handed.
The title track finds Bracewell using her throaty alto - it's temping to say "whiskey-soaked, " but she's underage! - to damn the day as an artist she would ever "sell my body to a magazine, " unlike other females her age.
The sultry When I Fall puts Bracewell in the predator seat, taunting her uneasy sexual prey.
Bracewell's studio band adds terrific touches: occasional slide guitar, tambourine, dobro and organ. She trades the acoustic for electric and even plays drums on a few numbers such as the poppy Fall Into Me, a vibrant beach tune that should make fans of Sheryl Crow toss their manes in the sun. (The song even pays homage to Clearwater Beach!)
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