Album titles, like looks, can be deceiving. In person the musical therapist and performer Heather Blush doesn’t seem to have any vices whatsoever. Where, then, do these songs come from? What makes someone so seemingly innocent and genuine sing about cheating spouses, illicit affairs, the attraction posed by emotionally unavailable bad boys and the relative merits of music and alcohol as substitutes for human companionship? Is there something in her past that she isn’t telling us?

Suffice it to say that these are all works of fiction, even when they deal with real people, like the Billie Holiday tribute “Billie’s Song.” Lady Day’s sarcastic and wry style is mirrored both lyrically and instrumentally — or maybe that’s just Blush’s own persona coming through. The band has composed tunes with a distinct blues flavour, layered with burlesque overtones and gypsy-swing jazz ornamentation. The vocals by Blush, Shane Sutherland and Steve Hazlett are competent and pleasant enough, but it is instrumentally that these musicians shine. Sutherland, in particular, is a dynamo on the upright bass, and these musical contributions are the key to Vice’s success.

Heather Blush will celebrate the release of Vice with a concert at the Ironwood Stage on Friday, July 18.