Cary Cooper

True to its title, Cary Cooper’s Dirty Little Secret plays like a night of bedside confessions — some fun and flirty, others hinting at perhaps even deeper secrets best left hidden. But even when revealing her guilty pleasure of sharing questionably platonic phone calls on the sly with a man who’s not her significant other, Cooper’s delivery is softened with a reassuring sweetness that makes you want to hear more. Although both Cooper and her producer husband, Tom Prasada-Rao, are Kerrville New Folk winners, there’s nothing remotely folky about Dirty Little Secret; it’s light, airy adult-contemporary pop reminiscent of Lisa Loeb or Abra Moore. But apart from the giddy “Every Thing is Coming True,” the record is often subtle to a fault, full of quiet little melodies that discreetly tap you on the shoulder rather than overtly hook you. But as the hushed beauty of “Edge of the World” makes clear from the start, Cooper and her little secrets are worth your attention.