A Girl Called Eddy (3 stars)
A Girl Called Eddy
First off, the girl is not called Eddy: She's singer-songwriter Erin Moran, another sensitive indie-pop soul, who like Bright Eyes and Iron and Wine, puts out records under an obtuse-sounding name rather than using her own. Indie pretensions aside though, Moran's full-length debut is a nice, mellow album of mostly precious, quiet ballads, a little PJ Harvey and a little Aimee Mann. Most of the album tools along at a near-soporific mid-tempo, but it makes for good background mood music, and Moran's voice is warm and inviting even in its melancholy.
It's nice when she spices things up a bit, coming to life on more up-tempo numbers like "The Long Goodbye" and "Life Thru the Same Lens." The album is never quite as engaging as it could or should be, and it may slip from your memory after a single listen, but it's just right to play at a low volume while discussing the inherent ennui of human existence.