Music Review Secret Lie “Wild Beautiful Rose” By: Dana Saravia—Life-long rock & roller, current music critic and Girl From Baltimore Secret Lie, a newer band who add classical elements to their sound, have released their debut album “Wild Beautiful Rose” on Bongo Boy Records Asia. Based in Portugal, Secret Lie’s blend of operatic vocals, strings, rock and pop infused with goth elements throughout, this album gives the band a solid introduction for listeners worldwide.
“Love Me Until The End Of Time” uses intimate vocals and strings to create a dramatic emotional atmosphere. With a moody vocal melody that blends into the instruments, this song makes an impact as an opening album cut. The second track, “I Can Be Free”, is an upbeat number that shows the band’s poppier side. Lyrics like “Look inside myself/And try to find a way/…Let me find a bridge to the dream” and the chorus’ “I just want to fly/ Diving from the sky/Running through the fields” work with the bright, soaring music to create a stand-out song, well-chosen as the first single off the album. “Beautiful Wild Rose”, their latest single, follows. A vivid ballad, Sara Madeira’s voice flows over the music and carries the melody along like the river described in the lyrics. The delicate piano that begins “Black Butterflies” sounds like the title beings in flight. Emotionally naked with lyrics such as “Sometimes you win/Sometimes you learn” that sound as though they’re being read aloud from
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tear-stained diary entries. Paired with beautiful piano playing, it’s a song that evokes the feelings and thoughts that someone going through deep emotional ache and heartbreak would wrestle with late at night. Reminiscent of Tori Amos circa “Under The Pink”, this song spotlights the band’s dramatic presence and provides another example of their versatility in both style and tone. “Filling Spaces” immediately follows. Perfectly sequenced, lyrics like “This was the sound/Of my heart for you/Now there’s a silence that/Can break the world in two” sound as though the singer is emotionally evolving into acceptance from the feelings of heartbreak and desertion expressed in the previous song. Building on the theme of the previous two songs, “Until Death Do Us Part” is an operatic rock number that celebrates the best memories of a lost love to find strength in the present and hope for the future. Whether or not it was the band’s intention, tracks 4, 5 and 6 can be heard as a trilogy and help carve out a strong impression for the group. Male vocals take the lead for the first verse of the next song, “Blackout”, followed by Sara once again taking lead for the second verse which leads into a hard rock, duel vocal chorus. Sounding something like a lost Evanescence hit, this is a stand out song with classic rock elements that make it both epic and accessible. “Little Taste Of Fun”, with its lyrics “I feel so alive/ It’s gonna be a full and perfect day”, is an upbeat number that celebrates being alive in the beauty of nature and fully present in the moment. The ninth track here, “Take Me” describes the conflicting tangle of feelings of falling in love. As the lyrics cover the fear and joy, highs and lows that come along with deeper feelings for another person, the melody of the music gives the song a hopeful undercurrent. “Summer (Presto)” is the final song of the album. A soaring instrumental, it manages to perfectly capture the vibrant energy of the season and is the perfect album closer.
Secret Lie’s “Beautiful Wild Rose” is an excellent debut album. Each track brings something to highlight the many facets and influences of this band. The album as a whole showcases their versatility and ability to create moods and express feelings in a variety of styles while always remaining true to themselves and their sound. “Beautiful Wild Rose”
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