Q (11/96, p.128) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...much too controlled and well-crafted to be hip or cutting-edge arty. Instead, it does the simple things very well: 10 engagingly tuneful songs delivered in an understated but intense voice..."
Personnel: Donna Lewis (vocals, piano, keyboards, programming, music box); Gerry Leonard (acoustic, classical, electric & E-bow guitars, guitar); Bill Dillon (guitar); Eric Friedlander (cello); Cosmic Lounge Brass Ensemble (horns); Mark Hutchins (keyboards, percussion); Harvey Jones (Mellotron, Prophet, keyboards, synthesizer); Kevin Killen (keyboards); Tony Franklin (bass); Jimmy Bralower, Dean Sharp (drum programming); Pete Keppler (music box).
Engineers: Kevin Killen (tracks 1-9); Ian Rae (track 10); King Britt, John Wicks (track 11).
Recorded at Shelter Island Studios, New York, New York; Third Story Recording, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and live at BBC Pebble Mill, England.
Donna Lewis is a vocalist/keyboardist/composer who combines electronics and modern production techniques with a '60s Goffin/King compositional sensibility. Her musical vision arrives fully-realized on her debut album, on which she uses soft, textural layers of keyboards to clothe her direct, unpretentious lyrics. Most of Lewis' songs focus on that perennial pop subject, love and the lack thereof. They are delivered in a small, fragile voice that simultaneously recalls the self-possessed eccentricity of Tori Amos and the wispy waifishness of Jewel. While Lewis composes much more straightforward pop confections than either Amos or Jewel, she is capable of creating an airy, atmospheric landscape with synthesizers and drum machines, and it provides a perfect foil for her old-style songwriting. NOW IN A MINUTE maintains this approach throughout; Lewis is a musician who knows exactly what she wants to do and has the ability to traverse an album's worth of tunes without once breaking stride.