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Review from All Music Guide
by Heather Phares
Marking the first time Li Alin's music has appeared on CD, All In is a sometimes haunting, sometimes mischievous, and completely unique blend of electronica and cabaret. Alin has likened her music-making process to "remembering a dream," and there is a dreamlike intensity and vividness throughout All In that makes it utterly fascinating. Alin's rich, world-weary alto is so perfect for cabaret that even the album's most faithful interpretations of the style, such as the brash "Folie" and the bluer-than-blue "The Stirring" and "Divinations" never sound contrived. Likewise, she's completely natural (albeit anguished) while whispering lyrics like "My soul is bleeding...I'm yearning for your love in my bones" -- words that could sound silly or melodramatic in the mouths of most other singers -- on the gorgeous album opener, "Feu." Elsewhere, Alin adapts cabaret's glamour, darkness, and wit to her own ends, especially on "Killing Time," where you can hear the mischief and impatience in her voice as she shouts "killing time is killing me!" even as metallic percussion crashes around her. All In is also infused with vampish sexuality: "Jesus"' depiction of a mystery man who alternately eludes and seduces a nameless woman has a tribal, hypnotic pull, while "Little Girl" is Alin's take on flirtatious synth pop (and even "Pray"'s sinuous cello lines sound a little less than completely holy). When "J'Aspire"'s smoky strings bring All In to a close, it's hard to believe that its spellbinding dream is over. Fortunately, the album's dark, mysterious beauty only grows more compelling with time.
