AMG Review of Flags

Andrew Leahey
All Music Guide

Flags, the third record from Brooke Fraser, was inspired by Fraser’s move to Los Angeles. It’s a well-worn singer/songwriter album, with songs that take their cues from the Lilith Fair movement and L.A.’s burgeoning Hotel Café scene. Fraser knows how to craft a sturdy pop hook, and there are many of them here -- particularly during “Something in the Water,” which became her first Kiwi chart-topping hit in October 2010. Elsewhere, she stretches her boundaries by focusing on ambience and atmospheric textures, even evoking a young Fumbling Towards Ecstasy-era Sarah McLachlan during “Ice on Her Lashes.”