Kira Isabella was born on September 18, 1993 in Ottawa,
Ontario. Her musical influences include
Shania Twain, Sheryl Crow, and Taylor Swift.
Her debut single, `Love Me Like That’, made it on to the Canadian Hot
100 in 2011. Her debut album of the same
name came out on October 2, 2012 (Sony Music Canada). The album was produced by Mark Liggett and
Jerry Lane. In the liner notes Kira
writes: “I would like to start by thanking God.
You have blessed me with a love of music so deep it is my air. You have also blessed me with the most
incredible opportunities and I will never take them for granted”.
‘Blame it on Your Truck’ is a fun, upbeat country song:
“Everybody thinks we’re up to no good/But we’re just sittin’ on the
tailgate/The moon shinin’ on the lake/And listening to that country music
playing.../My momma will be freakin’ out/When I don’t make it home before 2
AM/We’ll say it wouldn’t start/Or maybe we got stuck/If I know my daddy, he’ll
be waiting up/Let’s blame it on your truck”.
The title track is one of six songs co-written by Kira and Jason
Phelps. It’s a nice ballad about puppy
love: “You give me real soft kisses, walk me to the door/Whisper how amazing
this is and tell me I am beautiful/Hold me just a little tighter when they’re
playin’ our song/Make me smile when my night has gone wrong/And give me your
hand to hold/I’m fallin’ so fast/When you love me like that”. The album’s third single was ‘A Little More
Work’. It peaked at #7 on the Canada
Country airplay chart. It’s a catchy,
playful country song: “I’ll admit when you take off your shirt and get down in
the dirt/It’s hard for me to look away/But I wanna know there’s more than
that/Underneath that baseball cap.../You still got a little more work to
do/Before you sweep me off my boots/Sorry, I don’t fall that easy!”
‘A Real Good Radio’ was the second single. It’s about a love for music: “I remember the
first time/Headin’ out to the bonfire/Turned it up as loud as it would go/Or
the time that Amy and I drove toward that big Alberta sky/Can’t believe the
speakers didn’t blow/Singin’ every single song at the top of our lungs/It burns
a little oil grindin’ into gear/Super glue holding up the rear view mirror/But
whoa!/It has a real good radio”. Blair
Daly, Hillary Lindsey, and Troy Verges wrote ‘Songs About You’, a country
ballad about heartache: “Another sleepless night, with the radio/Alone here in
the dark just trying to let you go/But every song I hear just makes it
worse/It’s time to shut it down/Turn off all this hurt/I’m done sitting here wasting
my breath/I’m done beating this thing to death/It don’t change, nothing/It just
keeps you on my mind”.
On ‘I Can Love You Better Than That’ Kira offers advice to a
guy she likes: “I know she’s gonna steal your heart and tear it up in two/Give
it back when she’s had enough and say/’This belongs to you’/Don’t give her that
chance/Don’t you fall fast/Why don’t you run while you still can?/I know you
don’t see what I can see/Everything that we could be”. ‘Little White Church’ is a tender,
sentimental song: “Meet me at the little white church/When the bells start
ringing on Sunday morning/I’ll be in the back row with a wildflower in my
hair/And if we hit it off we can talk about you taking me out next Friday
night/But first, meet me at the little white church/I spent the whole week
wondering what to wear/I needed more than my Sunday best/So I bought me a brand
new dress”.
‘Gonna Be a Hot One’ is an upbeat country song of
infatuation: “When the middle of the night’s hard to sleep through/I got a
T-shirt that smells just like you/My heart races when you’re with me/I start
wishing you would kiss me/I see your picture every time I blink/And I wanna
wanna be that girl you’re obsessed with”.
‘Dangerously Obvious’ is a song of reckless abandon: “Let’s run away and
give ourselves to the night/Don’t wanna slow down till we see sunlight/I know
it’s wrong but it feels so right/And I don’t even care that I don’t know your
name/But I’m pulled like a magnet, a moth to a flame/Say the word and I’m there
cause baby with us/It’s so obviously dangerous and dangerously obvious”.
Kira co-wrote ‘Her Heart’ with Walt Aldridge. It’s a quiet song offering these thoughts:
“Her heart is wrapped in mystery/Her heart is wrapped in gold/You may know that
girl down to the deepest part/But you can’t really know her heart/She doesn’t
know how to show/Just how much she wants you to know her heart”. Last up is ‘My Diary’. It reveals Kira’s desires: “On page three you
put a promise on my hand/Turn to page four, make my brother your best man/Been
waiting on you to start whispering in my ear/’I love you baby’/Whoa...while you
dance with me/Real slow/If you could only read what’s in my diary”.
LOVE ME LIKE THAT is a fantastic debut album. One must take into account Kira was not even
twenty years old when this album came out, so one should not expect the lyrical
maturity of say a Johnny Cash or Dolly Parton.
There are five fast paced country songs and six country ballads
presented here. Seven of the songs are
about young love and infatuation, while two are about heartache and longing for
a guy. There’s even a song about a love
for music. Kira’s vocals are easy to
listen to and she is very attractive.
I’m rating this one 90%. Fans of
Cyndi Thomson and early era Taylor Swift should buy this one. For more info visit: www.kiraisabella.ca or check her out on
Facebook.