"Mixing and matching everything from fever-dream calypso to dredged-from-the-Delta blues to lo-fi cabaret balladry, Dirty Little Secret never runs out of surprises...an exotically original, genre-busting beauty."
Mike Usinger, No Depression
"A luscious array of jazz crooning over trip-hop beats and cabaret sensuality, The script for a futuristic burlesque show that never stops. Dizzying and dazzling, Masterpieces of exotica for decadent nightclubs with eccentric and seductive charm. Picture the Squirrel Nut Zippers crossed with Portishead, then grab a martini for this melange of the neurotic and erotic."
DOWNLOAD.COM
"[Dirty Little Secret] quickly morphs into a singular piece of pop that jumps all over the place — from trippy beats, effects and guitar squall (“Angels”), to a cool little piece of balladry that pulses with blips and piano fills (“Follow”), to cotton-candy lushness spun with orchestral touches, vibes and horns."
- Stuart Munro - Harp Magazine
"Sultry, strong honesty. With lurid, evocative arrangements and varied sounds that combine with vocals ranging from guttural to ethereal to yearning, Dirty Little Secret is a superb album."
Amy seele - INMAG - Hollywood Magazine
"The power of the ominous, slam-danceable "Angel" is undeniable; it evokes "Come Together" reinterpreted by a karaoke band of junkies."
-- Pamela Murray Winters -WASHINGTON POST
..smoldering spy-flick noir about dangerous romance, whipped along by vibrant surf guitar and exuberant brass; the title track sounds like 10,000 Maniacs filtered through the saccharine harmonies of '60s girl-groups;
Brian Howe Indy Week
"Startling...Impeccable pop craft."
- David Menconi - News Observer
"Dazzling and seductive!"
David Dye - World cafe NPR
"The moment you press play be prepared to be knocked off your feet ...an amazing disc you must not pass up."
Sean R. Grogan - EARVOULTION
Squirrel nut zipper Katharine Whalen returns in brash art nouveau fashion on the gripping solo project, "Dirty Litlle Secret", an intriguing mix of dance hall pop, swirling beat laced sound effects and tight compositional framework balance the studio wizardry of David Sale.
Honest Tune Volume 7
"Secrets" is an idiosyncratic pop album... tunes such as the title track, "Angel" and "Meet Me by the Fire" are catchy, they're also more bent than run-of-the-mill pop songs...
BILLBOARD MAGAZINE
"Dirty Little Secret is alternately sassy, sultry, retro and modern."
-- PERFORMING SONGWRITER, JULY/AUGUST
There are New Orleans-inspired second-line street parade rhythms, sultry ballads, happy time romps and a closing song, Blur,
that could easily be a message-in-a-bottle note from the other end of the world. Todays tip: Meet Me by the Fire is a summer anthem, one of those songs that comes around every few years to light up the airwaves with excitement, paving the way for at least two more months of self-delusion of the highest order and the promise that the real world is taking an extended siesta.
BILL BENTLEY, Neil Young's Publicist STUDIO CITY SUN
plenty of blazing hot, sultry numbers -- NASHVILLE CITY PAPER
"Dirty Little Secret" is soaked in the hedonistic trappings of a diversified nightlife, conveyed by Whalen with a casually self-possessed persona that beguiles with sultry swagger and sassy smack-downs.
CHUCK CAMPBELL - Knoxville News Sentinel
"Swaths of hip-hop and traces of pop-rock color the tracks, picking up the beats to a zestful frenzy that turns an otherwise ordinary experience into an extraordinary experience.
- Alexander Rogers - CELEBRITY CAFE
"like Debbie Harry at her most Beguiling" ILLINOIS ENTERTAINER
FIVE STARS
"Breathes as much as it belts"
cdbaby.com
"A suave blend of modern beats and groovy '60s sounds ."
- Nick Dedina RHAPSODY
"Lasciviously enticing vocals that meander over jazzily animated rhythms and surf-inspired guitar make for a delightful melange suitable for the most scandalous Parisian burlesque show. Sensual and inviting beyond words, Katharine Whalen (Kat) reminds me of bands like the Get Hustle that take an otherwise vibrant and jubilant music and turn its head to face the shadow side. The result is swing-noir par excellence. Yummy."
- Scott's TOP TEN list at Download.com
"Anachronistic musical tracks that sound like a cross between Latin,sampled jazz, and the Motown Remixed series paired with Whalen's hot vox make for intriguing, and highly welcome, bedfellows."
- Ryan Gillespie - POP MATTERS
"There was a seven year gap between Dirty Little Secret, Katharine Whalen's sophomore release, and her debut. Perhaps not surprisingly then, the two albums are worlds apart stylistically with the only constant being the singer's retro vocals. She has abandoned the smoky, Billie Holiday style that was a logical extension of her work with the Squirrel Nut Zippers, for a lounge/spy music/'60s avant-pop that suits her just as well and arguably better. Although she gets top billing on the front cover, the success of the album should go equally to David Sale (ex-Camus). He writes or co-writes the songs, plays every instrument, engineered all but two tracks, and is clearly the driving force behind the project. Whalen is in fine voice, but it's the production that shares and often dominates the spotlight. These heavily overdubbed songs exude a chilly, frisky, occasionally dreamy go-go quality, somewhere between trip-hop, Vegas jazz, and Austin Powers. The brassy bongo-driven attack of the opening, "The Funnest Game," makes it sound like it came off the soundtrack of a Sean Connery era James Bond flick. Instruments fade in and out during tunes and the programmed drums bring a contemporary feel, even as a song such as "Meet Me by the Fire" recalls girl group aesthetics. Just when you think you've got the album figured out, it shifts direction, eluding your grasp but beckoning you back for another spin. "The Garden" is built on tropical percussion, wandering trumpet, and staccato keyboards as Whalen double-tracks vocals in a bizarre but sexy moan. "Want You Back" imagines a Peggy Lee, Herb Alpert, and John Barry mash-up and the techno beat, mariachi trumpets, and '60s drama of "In the Night" is both winsome and vivid. "
Hal Horowtz ALL MUSIC GUIDE
"Whalen's wonderful voice would be winning in just about any band, David Sale's rich, varied production transposes it into exotic mixes that sound like space-age bachelor pad music."
" album highlight is the title track, a rootsy Ricki Lee Jones-style confessional sprinkled with Herb Alpert horns and a touch of mainstream piano pop. like Four Tet's Kieran Hebden, Sale ensures that it sounds seamlessly organic. "
Chris Parker - CLEVELAND SCENE
Dirty Little Secret is one giddy surprise after another, blurring genres, confounding senses and creating a sense of oddball fun that revels in its ability to thwart expectation and try on new guises.
WINSTON SALEM JOURNAL
A celebration, and one from an entirely different era. Opener, "The Funnest Game," could easily be the theme song for the new version of Casino Royale rather than the Chris Cornell sung "You Know My Name." "You Who" is a head turner, not only in name, but aurally as well. The hip-hop like horns and sweet coos of the title make it an easy highlight. "Follow" is a tender ballad, acting as a nice bridge between uptempo tracks.
"Angel" defies its own name, sounding much more like a down and dirty "Come Together"-like slinky blues number. "Want You Back" is the closest thing to the style of her former band, though, ironically, more along the lines of the Maxwell sung tracks rather than her own. "In the Night" masks an old time country ballad in the guise of a '70s soft-rock classic, sprinkled with big band. "Three Blind Mice" is yet another strange hybrid, combining that old calypso style with electronic dance beats and slinky sixties guitars and horns, and pulling it off without a hitch.
Treble Magazine
Katharine Whalen - Dirty little Secret's Friend Space (Top 8)
Katharine Whalen - Dirty little Secret has 12421 friends.
Hi Katherine, you have agreat voice and terrific musical arrangements.I hope you enjoy my music(on both sites) as much as I have enjoyed listening to yours. Best wishes, Robert
I always thought that I loved you (since I first heard you in '96), but after hearing "The Funniest Game," ....well, now I know I do. That song is FANTASTIC.
I just got your solo CD and WOW...I Love it!! The whole thing is great, though my favorites are Three Blind Mice and Yoohoo...at least my favorites THIS week!! Thank you for the great music!!
