DotM Album Reviews
April 2019: Oxford Music Scene Magazine: Album Review "The Girl with the Secret Fire is the brainchild ofTamara Parsons-Baker, longtime Oxford music scene stalwart. She has a clear flair for the dramatic: most of the songs on the album can be easily imagined as the background to a period drama set amongst Oxford’s dreaming spires. This said, the album can be best described as a mosaic of female influence; Kate Bush’s storytelling,Laura Marling’s quirkiness and the current zeitgeist for delicate fingerpicking, as championed by artists such asPhoebe Bridgers, Haley Henderickx and Aldous Harding, all display themselves. Its words evoke classic female protagonists such as Katniss Everdeen and Tess of the D’Urbervilles - the listen is literate, but never inaccessible."
April 2019: Angry Baby: Album Review "Their debut album,The Girl with the Secret Fire is full of dramatic, atmospheric baroque/pop/rock/punk music, melded with expressive, thoughtful and emotional lyrics that define the band’s message of female empowerment.However, the songs also explore the universal themes of love, loss, grief as well as feminism.Many of the songs feature the sea and tell tragic tales of women, notably in the raw sound that that is ‘Tess’.Telling the tale of Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the song remains current and relevant to today’s women around the world.Singer and songwriter Tamara’s voice shines with emotion and you instinctively feel that she is singing for all wronged women, whatever their situation."
March 2019: Music Musings and Such: Review "In a world where there is a lot of the same thing being played, it is nice discovering an act that are unique and capture you straight away. One can listen to their music and feel better and, in these tough times, that is what we need. They go even further than that and can open your mind and make you think. Albums and artists that challenge the imagination and enrich you should be promoted above that which is straightforward and radio-friendly."
March 2019: Nighshift Album Review: The Girl with the Secret Fire "A quote oft repeated in the wake ofMark Hollis’ death in February went: “Before you play two notes learn how to play one note, and don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it.” It’s a maxim Death of the Maiden seem to have taken to heart on this stunning debut album. Notes are used sparingly and every one comes with the precision and sense of purpose of a spectral assassin. Throughout ‘The Girl With the Secret Fire’ you’ll find death, grief, drama, passion, longing, militant determination and an emotional turbulence that sucks you in and shakes you to the core, but delivered with an understatement that simultaneously throws everything into sharper focus while making some of the stories sound like they’re coming at you from a dream.”