Amy Milian, one of the primary singer/songwriters in Stars and member of indie rock collective Broken Social Scene, makes her solo debut with HONEY. HONEY is 12 lush reflective and bittersweet country-tinged pop ditties about skinny boys, heartbreak, whisky, youthful confusion and the North Dakota sun. Honey From The Tombs may be Montreal artist Amy Millan's solo debut, but any Canadian indie rock aficionado will already have heard her voice on a number of recordings from Broken Social Scene and Stars. Knowing that, if edgy alt-rock is what you are seeking from this release, be prepared to look elsewhere; contrary to the gothic-looking cover, this is primarily a collection of bluegrass-affected music, though there are some wonderfully languid alt-country melodies to be found within these grooves. The disc is divided into two basic sounds; the first is a straight-up yee-haw hoedown that comes too easily and leaves the memory just as quickly ("Blue in Yr Eye" "Ruby ll"). The second style, however, is where the CD truly shines; a Cat Power-meets-Mazzy-Star mash-up of tracks that are perfect to watch shooting stars by. "All The Miles" contains some stellar accompaniment to Millan's sweet voice, (largely performed by Ian Blurton of Blurtonia/Change of Heart fame) while "Wayward and Parliament" is equally breathy and beautiful. The one exception to the two-style pattern is "Headsfull," a Veruca Salt-esque number that shakes you awake, but frustratingly leaves you longing for more. All in all, an admirable first effort, but one which would raise up a notch from good to gorgeous if she followed more of her original ideas and spent less time performing predictable old-school country licks. --Denise Sheppard