collectedsounds.com
Lisa Dewey follows her impressive Weather Changer Girl with a new album. She's working with Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins and Michael Steele of the Bangles fame. The dreamy strains of "Mellow Day" leads us into a record of sweet vocals and melodies. It's hard not to think of the Cocteaus. "Rushing" is ecstatic cascades of Raymonde's guitar and Dewey's lovely voice. The lengthy "Hollow" is a great song. Dewey's voice and the melody lead to pure pop nirvana. It spins around hypnotically, gaining momentum with each repetition of the chorus. "Caught up in a haze, I can consume you, in a drawn out chaotic, swooning drenched dream" sighs Dewey rapturously. "Thieves and Thievery" is gorgeously sad. This is another great record by Lisa Dewey. Give it a try.-Anna Maria Stjärnell (collectedsounds.com) May 26, 2004

Splendid Magazine
Bolstered by production assistance from former Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde, Busk stands as singer/songwriter Lisa Dewey's best sounding and most fully realized collection to date. Although the songs aren't explicitly interconnected, Busk sounds like a concept album centered around love's maddening infatuation/obsession/dissolution cycle. Darkness and longing haunt the songs, shrouding even the folksy "Thieves & Thievery" in the long shadows of evening. Twilight has always been Raymonde's time to shine and he's in top form here, sprinkling that swirly, shimmery Cocteau pixie dust all over "Dream Wild" and "She Would", while multi-tracking Dewey's vocals into husky choruses. Busk is an enjoyably moody ride.-Steve English (Splendid Magazine) June 15, 2004

DJ Modern Mark (KSCU)
Lisa Dewey has come a long way since her first album ten years ago. From an Ani Difranco-based folk singer to a more subdued Sarah McClachlan-style, Lisa has added a full-fledged band to her acoustic gems to produce a more lush full sound to her already beautiful voice that fancies all her female fans that swoon over her at her shows. Lyrically, the songs are diverse and give the listener a variety of Lisa's creative nature with song writing. The single, "Mellow Day," proves that Lisa is structuring her songs in a way that shows she can deliver a wave of mystique with her variety-driven writing style like no other bay-area artist can. Even the upbeat "Thieves In Thievery" has something about it that makes you wonder how she managed to take her own sound and add a bit of CRANBERRIES-esque towards the last half of the song. "The Cycle is Now Broken" has a chorus in it that shows off Lisa's ability to stretch her vocal chords to the max and to understand what I'm talking about you'll just have to listen for yourself. Songs like "Two Baskets of Your Clean Clothes" and "Sometimes" are more relaxed in nature yet stand out as the best epics on Busk both musically and lyrically. Evident throughout the album is the beautiful COCTEAU TWINS influence that makes Busk full of life and sweetness that is best explained when you find Simon Raymonde credited for production assistance.-DJ Modern Mark (KSCU) June 2004

Impact Press
June/July 2004 - Lisa Dewey and The Lotus Life o Busk o Kitchen Whore Records o Think Mazzy Star meets Everything But the Girl. Some of the darkness and drones of Mazzy Star, but with the pop melodies of EBTG. Dewey's vocals are beautifully layered with atmospheric melodies, and the passion behind them remains consistent through the album. At times, she even touches upon a PJ Harvey feel. (MP)

HighBias.com
July 4, 2004 - I've always hated the Sundays; just couldn't stand the singer's voice or her band's happy hippy folk pop. This in turn prejudiced me against any band with songs that were basically folk pop dressed in alternative rock drag. Well, either I'm less cranky now or I've just been listening to the wrong shit all these years. Lisa Dewey and her band the Lotus Life follow the same formula on Busk, with songs that sound as if they started out as singer/songwriter meditations then transformed into ethereal electric pop. But her no-nonsense singing, darker outlook and delectable melodies make "Dream Wild," "Hollow" and "Mellow Day" attractive and compelling. Michael Toland

MundaneSounds.com
August 4, 2004 - Lisa Dewey has been making dark music for many years now, releasing it on her own and taking care of business for herself. Impressive, of course, but it should be noted that her independent streak is not done as compensation for a lack of quality. After all, if you want something done right, then why not do it yourself? With that attitude in mind, she founded Kitchen Whore, and she's never looked back. Can't say that I blame her, though.

Considering that the album is co-released with Bella Union (owned by former members of the Cocteau Twins), it's really not surprising that Busk, her fourth album, is a strong collection of dark, atmospheric folk-rock. Dewey's voice is strong and husky, which stands quite nicely with the brooding music that accompanies her. At times, such as on "Rushing" and "Mellow Day," this contrast proves to be quite awkward and bulky. On other songs, like the beautiful "Dream Wild' and "With You On My Mind," the contrast works quite well, producing a mature edge that makes you feel that Dewey's speaking to you from her own experiences, and you can't help but be drawn in by her singing.

Busk is a great record for those with heartache, because the songs are both depressing and detached, hurt and healing, painful and promising. "It's gonna be fine!" she says at the end of "Thieves & Thievery," and though you might think her record is bleak, ultimately it is going to be fine. A little bit of hope delivered with depressingly bleak music? Man, could it get better than that? -Joseph Kyle

PopMatters.com
October 4, 2004 - The Cocteau Twins' Simon Raymonde help Lisa Dewey produce her latest effort Busk, and the results certainly have that patented ethereal and dreamy Twins sound. No complaints from this listener; Ever since that group broke up, there's been a huge gap left behind. Not to say Dewey will invoke images of Liz Fraser, as she's got her own voice and style of singing, but it is certainly as pleasant and hypnotic as Liz's. It's hard to beat the opening cut "Mellow Day" here, but Dewey turns out an impeccable album with song after song of wistful melodies that may also remind one of the great indie group Tsunami during their Deep End era. Take your pick from such gems as "Rushing," Thieves & Thievery," and "Hollow." These and the rest of the tunes on this album will all take you someplace else while listening. Someplace warm and familiar. This is definitely one of those albums you'll want to return to time and again. Beautiful. -Jason Thompson