In some cases, secrets are just too good to be kept — especially when the secret refers to Via Lotus’s excellent debut album, “Secrets.” The privileged few who have heard it have a duty to tell as many people as possible. The musicians responsible for this tender throwdown of an album are singer Tasha Lynn (Natasha Addessi), guitarist JCK (Jeff Klemm), drummer (and JCK’s brother) Kev (Kevin Klemm) and bassist A-pop (Alex Popovici). They’re all local products, coming either from Canton or Stow. Via Lotus sounds like someone took a ’90s rock band and plopped them down in a Motown-style recording studio. Addessi’s strong, clear voice has a timeless soul sound that infuses energy and an edge into the songs, like if Corinne Bailey Rae took some lessons from Amy Winehouse. The backing band provides crunchy, sweeping guitars that are an unexpected backdrop for Addessi’s vocals, but it all seems to mesh seamlessly. The lead track, “My Own Worst Enemy,” builds tension slowly with muted distortions and a syncopated beat until Addessi’s voice and the guitar mournfully explode, sweeping the listener away. This meshing of processed sounds and bare emotions is not by accident. “I want people to be mindfucked in the most raw way possible when they sit down and put the headphones on,” said JCK. Being the guitarist and producer of Via Lotus, he is largely responsible for the sound that comes forth. As he humbly puts it, “I turn the noise on.” The emotional charge comes from Addessi, who’s responsible for the bulk of the melodies, lyrics and vocals. “I write from personal experience,” she explained. “They’re very emotional. I wear my emotions on my sleeve, and that comes through in the songs.” These emotions bleed through the entire recording. “Secrets” contains an immediacy not often captured on a CD. JCK calls this the unique approach that they took when recording. “It actually was a surprise for Tasha,” said JCK. “One night she came over, we bought a couple bottles of wine and holed up in the basement to work with her ideas for songs. We kept getting so many compliments on our live performance that we decided to try and mimic it on our record.”   This led to them trying to get all their songs in as few takes as possible, with everyone playing together at one time. The urgency is transferred to the listener. “‘Buckets of Sand’ and ‘Secrets’ is one continuous take of Tasha,” said JCK. “I sat down, turned on the mic and I didn’t stop until she was finished.” “You can actually hear me celebrate at the end of ‘Secrets,’ I was so pumped,” added Addessi. The emotions on “Secrets” mostly concern heartbreak. “The album can kind of be seen as a transition from love lost to love found,” Addessi said, and it shows. Tracks like “Ambivalence,” “Deja Catastrophe” and “Buckets of Sand” are delivered with a tender ache that forces the listener to sympathize. “We’re all striving for the same things. I want these songs to relate to everyone,” said Addessi. To understand Via Lotus, one has to understand JCK and Addessi, the creative core of the band. The two have been practically inseparable from the moment they met — and, as clichéd as it sounds, it was their music that brought them together. JCK used to host an open-mic night at Musica. On its final night, Addessi showed up to play, where she noticed JCK. “I thought he was attractive the moment I saw him,” she said. Unfortunately, the night was fully booked. She was told to go to Musica’s rival, Northside, who was also hosting an open mic that night. It was raining that night. In the rain, the couple exchanged their fateful first words. “I asked her for a cigarette,” laughed JCK. Since Northside isn’t far from Musica, Addessi decided to walk. “I got drenched,” she remembered. Northside told her they’d see whether they could slot her in. Discouraged, she went to the bar to console herself with a beer, only to be told that she had to be on stage in two minutes. After hurriedly tuning her guitar, Addessi played two songs on her acoustic and called it a night. While on stage, though, she noticed a familiar face. “I saw Jeff out there, and I was just like ‘Avoid eye contact,’” recalled Addessi. “See, I was trying as hard as I could to get eye contact. I was just staring at her,” said JCK, laughing again. From there, it took a decidedly high-school-romance turn. “My friend walked over to JCK and kind of said, ‘You should go talk to Tasha,’ out of the corner of her mouth,” said Addessi. She, meanwhile, was back at the bar, trying once again to buy a beer only to, once again, be interrupted — this time by JCK. “I asked her what she was drinking. She said a Blue Moon. So I told the bartender to get two,” he said. Those two Blue Moons and “about 20 cigarettes” led to a new relationship and a new band. “We stayed there all night, after all the bands were done, after last call, after they were kicking us out. We just sat there and talked and talked,” recalled JCK. Being musicians, their conversation naturally steered towards music. “He was the first person I’ve ever completely connected with on music. There’s no argument because there’s nothing to argue about. We agreed across genres and across eras,” said Addessi. Her own music also came up. “I told her that when I heard her play, I heard all this external noise. I told her these weren’t acoustic songs; they were rock ‘n’ roll songs. Tasha has a fantastic sense of rhythm but she needed a band up there behind her,” said JCK. Addessi agreed, and credits JCK and the close bond he has with the rhythm section for the seamless integration. “I never had this kind of support as an artist until Jeff. He and his brother have a connection no one could ever touch. Jeff will start something and the other two will instantly pick up on it,” said Addessi. As Via Lotus looks to the future, they see a van. Specifically, a touring van. “We really want to tour. We have a tight group of friends and we all make music together. If we can get a van, we could have several different bands perform from just the six or seven of us,” said Addessi. Currently, however, Via Lotus is content with playing local shows. I met JCK and Addessi at Annabell’s after his all-acoustic set — and excellent show that really took off in the second half, when Addessi came on stage to sing. Unfortunately, the bar was hosting a rugby social that night, so only about seven people will know how good the show was. But with more performances like this, Via Lotus and their “Secrets” won’t remain unknown for long. Written By Richie Koch