It's that time again!
Looking back, it's been a good few months since i've done some genuine album plugging. November actually. So, lets get started.
I really thought this girl was going to be one of those 'one album wonders' when she dropped off the face of the earth after that stellar Grammy performance with John Mayer and John Legend. I prayed she wouldn't. I found out that she was recovering from the sudden death of her husband, who apparently abused both methadone and alcohol together to meet his demise. She was a singer, he was a notorious sax player ( played with Mark Ronson, Winehouse, and Lily Allen) you know how it goes...Though with her clean image you would have never known the drugs he did. Poor girl. However...
With 2 1/2 years work, The Sea weaves it's way through the process of her grief with telling lyricism that drops with pain and angst. That's not to say it's a bleeding-heart record, because even through the angsty lyrics there is a hell of a lot of jazzy harp, keys, organs and synths, without loosing her signature 'simple girl with a guitar' vocal style. Even in her sadness Rae can make your hips sway and your head bop with her mesh of r & b/funk/jazz/soul/rock fusion. The track 'The Blackest Lily' is a perfect example of this. The album screams " I'm dying inside, and to combat this i'm going to go to a velvet-clothed club and grab a stranger to dance in a dark corner with".... to GOOD MUSIC. Seriously.
'Paris Nights/ New York Mornings' sounds very much like a song that should have been written for the 'Sex & the City' franchise soundtracks- it puts me right in the mindset to want to buy spring pumps and sit in coffee shop patios with girlfriends, waiting for mr right to spill his coffee on me :P It's perfect for a single. The radio-people actually got it right this time. Not to say that the song has had much radio play though :( I blame Lady Gaga ENTIRELY!
I have to say that I'm very impressed with this effort considering her plight. Her voice has this 'Lady Day' quality about it- if it was stripped down. Her vocal runs are well placed and effortlessly executed. All around a great album!
Mentionable Tracks include : Closer, I Would Call It Beauty (for those of you who live for the nostalgic mindframe), Paper Dolls, The Sea
I was a fan of this band after I received their first album as a play-copy when i used to work for HMV. The cover art wasn't much to speak of, so I can no idea what to expect when i opened it up and popped it into the spinner. I was pleasantly surprised. Those of you who are acoustic lovers or 'folkies' or 'indie heads' read on.
These guys are Local, and by local, I mean that they are Canadian, and so you can feel good for supporting their talent. 'The Light Is You' was their first single from that album, a complete 'live' recording. Plus, the music video is in an apple orchard- an apple orchard! Come On!
This album around- the Vancouver natives pull in a lot of local inspiration, and by this 'local' I mean they write a lot about the Canadian outlook, society, and landscape- Definitely not a bad thing. 'Black Day In December' is exactly this- with an infectious beat !
'Gentlemen' has to be one of the cutest songs i've heard a guy write in a long time! It's got to be one of my favorite tracks because of it's honesty. With lyrics like 'I need a small-town girl to follow me home and teach me how to be a real man' and ' I am an old soul gentlemen, a flame trained gentlemen, hold the door for you, gentlemen' you can't help but melt - as a girl :P
I would see these guys without a doubt if they came to town! Without a doubt! They are very organic sounding! They are the kind of band that would always sound like they belong in a bar with a lot of friends and good people.
Honorable mentions : Girl with the Black Heart (second favorite song), Holly Ontario, Goodnight Moon (like the book) and totally mentions my name haha, Emerald Lake, AB
I really thought this girl was going to be one of those 'one album wonders' when she dropped off the face of the earth after that stellar Grammy performance with John Mayer and John Legend. I prayed she wouldn't. I found out that she was recovering from the sudden death of her husband, who apparently abused both methadone and alcohol together to meet his demise. She was a singer, he was a notorious sax player ( played with Mark Ronson, Winehouse, and Lily Allen) you know how it goes...Though with her clean image you would have never known the drugs he did. Poor girl. However...
With 2 1/2 years work, The Sea weaves it's way through the process of her grief with telling lyricism that drops with pain and angst. That's not to say it's a bleeding-heart record, because even through the angsty lyrics there is a hell of a lot of jazzy harp, keys, organs and synths, without loosing her signature 'simple girl with a guitar' vocal style. Even in her sadness Rae can make your hips sway and your head bop with her mesh of r & b/funk/jazz/soul/rock fusion. The track 'The Blackest Lily' is a perfect example of this. The album screams " I'm dying inside, and to combat this i'm going to go to a velvet-clothed club and grab a stranger to dance in a dark corner with".... to GOOD MUSIC. Seriously.
'Paris Nights/ New York Mornings' sounds very much like a song that should have been written for the 'Sex & the City' franchise soundtracks- it puts me right in the mindset to want to buy spring pumps and sit in coffee shop patios with girlfriends, waiting for mr right to spill his coffee on me :P It's perfect for a single. The radio-people actually got it right this time. Not to say that the song has had much radio play though :( I blame Lady Gaga ENTIRELY!
I have to say that I'm very impressed with this effort considering her plight. Her voice has this 'Lady Day' quality about it- if it was stripped down. Her vocal runs are well placed and effortlessly executed. All around a great album!
Mentionable Tracks include : Closer, I Would Call It Beauty (for those of you who live for the nostalgic mindframe), Paper Dolls, The Sea
I was a fan of this band after I received their first album as a play-copy when i used to work for HMV. The cover art wasn't much to speak of, so I can no idea what to expect when i opened it up and popped it into the spinner. I was pleasantly surprised. Those of you who are acoustic lovers or 'folkies' or 'indie heads' read on.
These guys are Local, and by local, I mean that they are Canadian, and so you can feel good for supporting their talent. 'The Light Is You' was their first single from that album, a complete 'live' recording. Plus, the music video is in an apple orchard- an apple orchard! Come On!
This album around- the Vancouver natives pull in a lot of local inspiration, and by this 'local' I mean they write a lot about the Canadian outlook, society, and landscape- Definitely not a bad thing. 'Black Day In December' is exactly this- with an infectious beat !
'Gentlemen' has to be one of the cutest songs i've heard a guy write in a long time! It's got to be one of my favorite tracks because of it's honesty. With lyrics like 'I need a small-town girl to follow me home and teach me how to be a real man' and ' I am an old soul gentlemen, a flame trained gentlemen, hold the door for you, gentlemen' you can't help but melt - as a girl :P
I would see these guys without a doubt if they came to town! Without a doubt! They are very organic sounding! They are the kind of band that would always sound like they belong in a bar with a lot of friends and good people.
Honorable mentions : Girl with the Black Heart (second favorite song), Holly Ontario, Goodnight Moon (like the book) and totally mentions my name haha, Emerald Lake, AB