"Secret Love 3" is a balanced cd selection of music from the jazz and electronica music genres. This collection of 18 songs contain mini-musical stories of coping with happiness, romance, and/or challenges associated with feeling love. "Secret Love 3" is actually safe to play around both conservative-minded and free-spirited individuals (even with the "Secret Love" title). This is because it is easy to visualize the theme of these songs being expressed through either a PG-13 and/or an R rated film. The two songs that I feel are a happiness balm: "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" by Soul Village and "How Beautiful" by Donna Regina. "Secret Love 3" is a collection for those who crave music that nourishes the spirit.

This is the third installment in the (currently) 5 cd strong "Secret Love" series, done by jazzanova and Resoul on the Sonar Kollektiv label in Germany. The premise is the same as it's two predecessors and it's two followers - folkish tunes with a decidedly electronic twist to them. Since this is the middle of the road series, usually now is when you start to wonder if they're uncovering enough quality to warrant it going forward. But this is where having a collection of musicians and producers like Jazzanova can be a massive asset, not to mention being a former part of the Compost Records label. But sometimes on this one, I wondered if some of the tracks featured/artists were trying too hard to be 'different'.

This album starts out very strong. Dalschaert opens up the set with a song that's the perfect example of the neo-folk genre. Samples, beats and guitar and piano give it an oddly rustic yet modern feel. That's followed up with Hanne Hukkelberg's "Do Not As I do", a song that's a bit quirky yet has a melody that's oddly a little hypnotic. "Holding On" is a song that I was a little torn about - because musically the song is beautiful. But for some reason I don't think the voice works except for in the chorus - a gentle female vocal would've probably been nicer and maybe added to the softness of the track IMO. Clara Hill appears later with "Once I Know", which was fantastic, and I couldn't help but to think she would've been a good choice for that song. Micah's "Revelation" was alright, albeit a little monotone. The harp is a nice touch in the song, though his voice reminds me a little bit of The Lighthouse Family's work. The album closes with a track by Secret Love stallwarts Thief, "with "Does It make Any Sense". A nice song off of their debut album.

If it's not broke, don't fix it seems to be the approach and for the overwhelming most part, it works. This is an able addition to the franchise - not as good as the first, but on par with the second entry. But that's not to say that there weren't a few head-scratchers here. And they weren't head-scratchers because they didn't fit the theme, but have that status because I just didn't think they were good songs. So with "Cassette Single", I wondered when the song would end as it reminded me of a 'boss'/final stage of a 1987 video game. Waiting for the ending goes with a couple of others as the album takes a pretty sharp dip after such a great intro; though it picks up with Clara Hill. So I doubt all the tracks will grab everyone. The motto seems to be add guitar, drop the beats altogether but fill the void with a little electronica on some of the songs while telling a story. Acoustic, neo-folk, maybe? It's still worth checking out - though they came awfully close on this one to being 'strange' just for the sake of it. 3.5, rounded up to 4 thanks to the clever album/cd cover.