Children often pass through many phases as they decide what to be when they grow up. The prospective ballet dancer eventually opts to fight fires, the aspiring veterinarian blossoms into a Wall Street financial whiz. But not so for Brisa Roche. Long before she made The Chase, her sultry debut album for Metro Blue Records (an imprint of Blue Note Records), the American-born, Parisian-based singer-songwriter knew that she was destined to be a musician. And through a variety of adventures, stretched across two continents, she never lost sight of that goal.

Hypnotic. Mesmerizing. Seductive. These are all adjectives that embody The Chase. On the sweet, slowly spiraling "Mystery Man," she warns the lover in her arms that when he leaves her sight, her quest for the unknown man of her dreams will continue; his embrace is not enough to keep her. "Little Robot," with its pulsating beats and 60's AM radio details (a dash of xylophone, a few sweet notes from the trumpet), finds our heroine eschewing the frippery of modern gadgets - the cell phone, the iPod-and admitting that there is no technological armour to protect the heart from the irresistibly handsome suitor. And on "Dial Me Up," a bustling number full of hip-shaking, ye-ye rhythms and British Invasion guitars, she explicitly instructs that lover how to push her buttons - and not via
text messaging.

Co-written with collaborators Phillipe "Philou" Rigal and Jeff Hallam, produced by Yvinek, and recorded at the Studio Plus XXX, Paris in 2005, The Chase introduces Brisa Roche to the world at large - hopefully, it can keep up with her. For while her music is suave and cool, her spirit is still, as ever, raging.