First Listen: Lisa Marie Presley “To Whom It May Concern.”

Presley can sing. No doubt about that. She’s sultry, controled and expressive. There is really only one reason to praise her debut CD — her natural talent. Not even mounds of over production and pop-commercial lameness can hide her gift.

Musically, the CD is thin at best. It’s not that Lisa Marie is a bad songwriter. She crafts pop songs reasonably well. The songs are just too layered with studio techniques designed to be radio friendly.

I think the CD will grow on me, but what I’m really waiting for is the day she escapes her record company handlers, whose obsession with commercial viability stifle artistic expression, and makes a record that reflects the real Lisa Marie Presley. There is something there that is more than this, and hopefully someday it will get out.