On 06.16.10, In Live Shows, By Audrey Culver
On 11.15.09, In Amazing Albums, By Audrey Culver
It’s no secret that the Brooklyn music scene is abounding with abundantly talented musicians. One of the benefits of seeing live music in New York is that on any given night, one of the openers for a more well-established act will be a true artist on the rise. I have learned of so many excellent bands that way, including The Dig, Nouvellas, The Antlers, The Living Kills and The Bloodsugars. Most recently, I stumbled across an immensely talented singer/songwriter in Sharon Van Etten when she opened for London’s Noah and the Whale on the final night of their three-night residency at the Mercury Lounge.
Playing to a small crowd on that early Wednesday evening, she immediately drew me in with her angelic, almost operatic voice, and slow, deliberate, aching songs about the intricacies of love. With a charming stage presence completely void of any pretense, a unique sense of song structure, and the lyrics of a poet, it was without question that I knew I had to purchase her CD, “Because I Was In Love.”
Taking what she did on stage to a whole other level, the eleven tracks on the CD simmered and stewed and slowly got under my skin. Ms. Van Etten has a keen ability to write a melody that seems, at first, to be somewhat nondescript in its subtlety, but it’s that delicacy that enchants the senses upon repeated listens. Soft nuance slowly gives way to layers of intricacy as her graceful harmonies ache and yearn.
Lyrically, her songs all deal with conditions of the heart and the complex bittersweetness that often accompanies the feelings of love. Like the best lyricists, she is able to convey a mood, a thought, a feeling through an economy of words. A fine example of this is the opening lines of “Consolation Prize.” In a simple couplet, she’s able to tell a complete backstory of a relationship: “I came to you, my conscience clean, blood on my knees. The moral of the story is, don’t walk away again.”
She is also adept at conveying a tone through more ambiguous wordplay. In “Keep,” very subtilely she gives hints of a relationship that’s nearing the tipping point of self-destruction as it’s filled with lies and doubts, but also love and hope. “Remember these moments, they’re all we have and all I can keep. Caught in a lie, I want you to keep me to yourself. Keep running deep under my skin I want to shed. Don’t keep it in. Keep it on the thinnest of all threads and I won’t break you, no, no.”
My favorite lyric, though, probably because it taps into my own sense of romanticism, is from “Much More Than That.” Here, she recognizes that the most simple gesture can mean more than any words could ever say, “You reached for my hand slowly. I didn’t pull away. We did not have to be lips to face. My toe hit your toe lightly, your toe met my heel right back, and I don’t think I need much more than that.”
Ms. Van Etten writes songs from the perspective of someone who has been in love and who recognizes the beauty and pain of that experience. As the feelings of love ebb and flow along the waves of its wonders and difficulties, its apparent that she retains an unflinching hope that one day true love will flourish and last a lifetime, if not forever.
For this blog, one of the biggest challenges in deciding what track best represents Ms. Van Etten’s gifts as an artist was realizing that every track on “Because I Was In Love” holds its own distinctive take on her arsenal of talent. But, I have chosen the final track on the album, “Holding Out” for a multitude of reasons.
Perhaps it’s because it’s track 11:11, so it naturally drew me in, or perhaps it’s because it ends the album with a message so simple, yet so true, that it left me with tears in my eyes. Although it doesn’t feature any of her lovely harmonies, it does showcase her beautiful voice and propensity for song structure. It starts out as if it will be a more upbeat song, but suddenly shifts gears and slows down at the two-minute mark. That shift allows the song to breathe, Ms. Van Etten to emote, and us all to hope just as she hopes. Becoming almost an a cappella offering, the final four minutes find her drawing us in and leaving us with her lone voice and her lone, sparse guitar, plucking at strings– heartstrings perhaps– as she sings of holding out for a perfect love. Holding out, holding out…
And we’re there, holding out right along with her.
“Holding Out” by Sharon Van Etten
MP3: “Holding Out”
On 09.28.09, In Amazing Albums, By Audrey Culver
I was recently introduced to the lovely sounds of Australian musician Sally Seltmann, who performs under the band name, New Buffalo. Her debut album, 2005’s “The Last Beautiful Day,” had some nice moments, but more than anything, it encapsulated more of a promise of an emerging talent rather than a showcase for the talent itself.
2007’s follow-up, “Somewhere, anywhere,” however, was an album in which Ms. Seltmann truly found her voice, as well as a more unique sense of melody and a more layered, subtle approach to her lyrics.
Already scoring a hit as the songwriter of Feist’s “1234,” Ms. Seltmann is surely on the verge of much more success in her own right. And if wonderful tracks such as “Cheer Me Up Thank You,” “It’s True,” “Stay With Us,” and the absolutely divine “Emotional Champ” are any indication as to her capabilities as a songwriter, her new album, due in early 2010, will undoubtedly be stunning.
To whet your appetite while awaiting the official release date, enjoy “Emotional Champ,” and if you like what you hear, please purchase “Somewhere, anywhere.” It really is lovely.
“Emotional Champ” by New Buffalo
MP3: “Emotional Champ”
On 09.26.09, In Amazing Albums, By Audrey Culver
Every now and then, an album comes along that completely derails my normal routine, which is to listen to two or three albums per day in their entirety. A Fine Frenzy (aka Alison Sudol) released her second album, “Bomb in a Birdcage,” on September 8th, and ever since then, I haven’t really listened to anything else.
With hints of Ingrid Michaelson’s folk whimsy (“What I Wouldn’t Do”), Feist’s playful hooks (“Electric Twist”), Keane’s earnest piano-based pop (“The World Without”) and even big, danceable ’80s dreampop (“Stood Up”), Ms. Sudol manages throughout the 12-track set to sound completely unique. Her knack for writing addictive pop hooks in song after song has resulted in an album of increasing rarity: one in which every track is a keeper.
“Stood Up” by A Fine Frenzy
MP3: "Stood Up"