Lily Frost's sugary pop is just the kind of thing that makes the medicine go down. Lunamarium reminds me a bit of the first Cardigans CD; both albums are almost too sweet to digest in a single sitting, guilty pleasures of which you overpartake, and later regret. I'm particularly fond of Ms. Frost's cooing, purring, teasing voice, which is the perfect vehicle for this type of music. In a track like "Je m'en vais" -- sung in elegant, yet simple French, and sounding a bit like Kahimi Karie -- it's transfixing. This is the type of song you want to play over and over again as if you were a hypnotized robot, and Frost's voice is the main reason why.

"Who Am I" is also a nifty tune. It opens the album on a sunny, lighthearted note, loping friskily along with shuffling drums and slightly Beatles-esque harmonies. Lily's voice is in top form as it swoops and glides through airy melodies. "St. Augustine" is a nicely metaphorical song about making love with wild abandon in the ruins of a church (some Jungian archetype perhaps?). The climactic lines "You took me, you shook me, you threw me to the ground..." are delivered with such seductive coolness as to send a shiver down your back. There's a bit of a Spanish flair in the song's passionate trumpet lines and the guitar flourishes. Other enjoyable tracks include "Every Which Way", which is a bit dark and atmospheric but still candy on some level, and "The Love For Me." The former nods a bit to countrified popsters like Mojave 3, with some tasty lap steel accents, while the latter bounces along in a Monkees kind of way, but with sexier vocals (no offense to Michael Nesmith stalkers).

I can very well imagine listening to Lunamarium over and over...and then wanting to throw up. It's the kind of too-sweet, saturating album that's fun while it lasts but comes back to haunt you (as will the barely-disguised picture of Joanna Lumley on the album cover - Ed.). Grab yourself a copy, but handle with care!