Bitter Twisted Wrong - Review

Any young lady calling her album Bitter Twisted Wrong is not going to fill it up with lightweight ditties about uncomplicated love and bright, sunny days.
Chrystina Tomlin has obviously been around a lot of hardship and pain in her short life, and she’s using her caustic pen to get it all out of her system.

“Thanks to this album” she says, “I’ve had the chance to express all my emotional baggage. Hell yeah!” Express it she does, with all the ferocity of a young Sinead O’Connor.

Trying to categorize Tomlin is impossible; the first three tracks alone take in stuttering funk, grungy Metallica-ish rock and Pretenders infused balladry.
The anger in her voice is pushed to the fore and she spits out some pretty vitriolic lyrics to boot, but just when you think you’ve sussed out where she’s going she changes tack and starts singing in the most ethereal falsetto, showing a tender side of quite magisterial beauty.

‘Lonely Tonight’ is an obvious single choice and likely to connect with any lost soul, but for sheer brilliance try ‘Losing You’, reminiscent of Maxwell’s fabulous interpretation of Kate Bush’s ‘This Woman’s Work’.

Tomlin’s arrived on the scene in quite spectacular fashion. She’s an incredibly talented young lady and it’s going to be mighty interesting to see what direction she heads in next.


Andrew Hobbs