Nina Gordon is back. Six years after her debut solo album and eight years after her departure from Veruca Salt, the singer-songwriter with the emotionally intimate voice returns with Bleeding Heart Graffiti. A concept album about the beginning, middle and end of a relationship--being alone, finding yourself and becoming strong again--Bleeding Heart Graffiti was produced by Bob Rock [Veruca Salt's Eight Arms To Hold You, Gordon's solo debut Tonight And The Rest Of Your Life as well as Metallica, Bon Jovi, etc.]. Warmer and more organic than her first album--but still pop--Bleeding Heart Graffiti paints a new picture of Nina Gordon.

Add ex-Veruca Salt co-leader Nina Gordon to a growing list of 90s female rock singers (think Liz Phair and Alanis Morissette) who have left behind the grit of their earlier work to emphasize a more accessible pop sound.  On her 2nd solo release Bleeding Heart Graffiti, producer Bob Rock polishes each song to a high-gloss, showcasing Gordon's lightweight but pleasant voice over lush backgrounds.  The lead-off single "Kiss Me Til It Bleeds" is a catchy meditation on the guy-you-can't-resist, but most of the album lingers in somber ballad territory without displaying the tension of pop contemporaries like Aimee Mann or Fiona Apple.  Nina Gordon sounds like she's having more fun on "Suffragette", where an infectious T-Rex groove and background vocals dead lifted from an 80s Prince record blend into a danceable concoction. --Ben Heege