If you are not completely sucked in and left feeling a warm fuzzy feeling inside you after the opener and first single 'Inside A Boy', it's simple: You have no warm blood running through your veins. It slips in with an elegant arrangement of fluid, delicate guitars and gorgeous sweeping strings and those tender, haunting vocals that are a mark of Shara Worden (especially when she's wailing out "We are stars colliding and we crash like lightening into love!"). I'm sorry but you just can't but feel the wonder, the delight and the enchantment. It's that simple.Going back a bit, I've always been somewhat wary of Shara. I wasn't entirely convinced with her previous release. Sure, she has a stellar voice, but the songs quickly lost their appeal on me. If I am entirely honest, I saw her nothing more as Sufjan's chief cheerleading ringleader who was more suited to accompaniment in the background. And I was very wrong. I caught her live and she totally left speechless. I learned more about her (her degree in opera, her penchant for costumes, her few years tutelage under composer Padma Newsome from Clogs and The National) and it's not hard to see how her background and experience have helped shape this a A Thousand Shark's Teeth. It's more a varied affair than Bring Me The Workhorse. Maybe it's because it was originally intended to be a more a classical, string quartet affair but evolved over its 6 year gestation period.The sumptuous 'The Ice & The Storm' begins with simple heartbeat percussion and tinkling piano, slowly rising on waves of aching strings with her blissful and elated vocals. She implores, "Don't you want to let it go?" with underlying currents of metallic crackles and stammering beats and swirling harps. It's astonishingly good. 'If I Were Queen' exposes Shara at her most fragile. It's fine and understated with only the strings backing her ethereal tremble and supplied sombre relief. 'From The Top of the World' delves into a deeper and corporeal territory as it judders with soulful parade. And sure there are elements which won't suit every one. One case example could be the 'Black and Costaud' borrows lyrics from an opera by Maurice Ravel and could be seen as an easy excuse to exercise her vocals and the strings. I'm sure she had her reasons for the inclusion but I feel her own material is strong enough to hold its own.Listening to A Thousand Shark's Teeth is almost like reading Alice In Wonderland the first time around. Or it's sequel Through The Looking Glass. With its dense, rich colourful tapestry, which take you on a sprawling magical journey and leave you longing for home or for loved ones, be it present, old or lost. Maybe it is because this record combines material that was written both before and after the release of Bring Me the Workhorse but this release mirrors assorted times, places, emotions all stitched together with her graceful and visceral vocals. Maybe it's a bold statement, but I'm feeling in a bold-statement mood, but this record should really elevate Shara Worden's music into the stratospheres of the Radioheads, The Jeff Buckleys, The PJ Harveys, The Bjorks. It probably won't, but it really should. 90%[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/820910[/vimeo]Links My Brightest Diamond [myspace] [official site] [label]