(18 January 2004) Hungry Lucy began by chance in 1998 when War-N Harrison (Fishtank No.9) was asked to contribute to a Depeche Mode Tribute. War-N asked vocalist/lyricist Christa Belle to record vocals for the song "Blue Dress." The couple found they worked together so well that they began writing together and Hungry Lucy was born.

The first fruit of this labor was "Bound in Blood" (now considered a Hungry Lucy classic). After writing and recording a handful of songs, War-N & Christa decided to put them up on mp3.com and the emails began to flood in from around the world! Pleasantly surprised by all the positive feedback, Hungry Lucy embarked on a full-length album.

Autumn 2000 saw the release of Hungry Lucy's debut, Apparitions (review and interview) that received amazing response worldwide. People responded to the combination of pop song structures, trip hop grooves and Christa's enchanting vocals and other-worldly lyrics.

Hungry Lucy continued exposing themselves very tastefully with a number of compilation and tribute appearances. This only fed to fire and Apparitions continued to sell better than ever. Still the fans wanted more. HungryLucy delivered with the debut live performance in San Francisco, a licensing deal with Belgian label Alfa Matrix and subsequent European release of Apparitions: Revisited.

Spring and early summer of 2002 found Hungry Lucy on stage in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Cleveland and even out in the Indiana woods! These live performances gave the public a real audio-visual treat with Hungry Lucy's music and accompanying video.

Hungry Lucy spent the last part of 2002 recording their next full length double album entitled Glo(HLCD002, 2003). The first Disc is an excellent collection of twelve original tracks that pull out all sorts of brooding and lovely emotion. The second contains ten remixes that move in the dance/trance direction. Hungry Lucy have created a double treat for fans who like both to dance into the wee hours and to "chillout" into the morning.

Songs like the stunning slow-vibe "Rebirth" will please fans of ethereal trip-hop acts like Halou and Harland. On"Rebirth," Hungry Lucy lace their deep and slow groove lines with electronic sighs and the siren voice of Christa Belle. The dreamy and mesmerizing "Her Song" is a sweeping lullaby of a song with soft piano and light synth flourishes.

The chilling "Into Pieces" moves insidiously with a slinky beat while ghostly soundscapes caress Christa Belle's vocals. "Fearful" is a pounding industrial/darkwave piece that would make Collide proud. One of the best tracks, "Storm" is akiller Portishead-y tune complete with funky bass-line and finger-snapping beats.

If the first disc of Glo is ambient chill at its best, the second is a kick-in-the-pants dance set. Take, for example, the Kew Mix of "In the Circle" which pulses and throbs with an energy that would make Madonna proud. The Dreamside Mix of "Could it Be" is all fierce drum-n-bass and perfectly fitted for the goth/tehcno club scene. "Her Song" (Synthpop Radio Mix) is an Erasure-influenced remix that really emphasizes the upbeat nature of the song.

Glo is a highly listenable and impressive album. With intriguing instrumentation, loops and drums, and theseraphic voice of Christa Belle, all things seem right in Hungry Lucy's world. And the good news is that the band are working on their next album, To Kill a King, due for release in summer 2004.

Read further reviews, listen to soundbites and order thealbum from amazon.comhere. Glo is an excellent followup to Apparitions that will delight the band's established following and attract new listeners to their music.--Justin Elswick