ALBUM REVIEW: Eliza Wren Payne
- Posted on June 23, 2008 12:08 PM
- 0 comments
Eliza Wren Payne
Utah
Reivew By Peter Coulston
This is one of two albums for review from this talented lady who is as good live as she is in the studio. Both these albums were recorded last year, this one being the lighter of the two. At only six tracks, it is theoretically a cross between an album and an EP, but does contain some enjoyable material that is very close to her live performances. The album was produced by Callum Maccoll, who also covered all instruments, except percussion, as well as backing vocals. The album opens with the jazzy and breezy “Live It Up”, which sets the tone for the rest of the set. The title track is more blues influenced with some useful slide guitar while “So Goes Time” lightens up again and is a firm favourite at gigs, especially the extended note sung by Eliza right at the end. There’s a bit of bossa nova in “One More Day”,and the flute is a welcome addition to the folky “Finally”. Eliza wrote all the songs except “Galleon”, which is more rhythm led than the others and was penned by Marvin Payne. As you may gather, there is more than a little jazz influence in Eliza’s work and I have likened her to Joni Mitchell in the past, during that lady’s later period when she began moving in this direction with Tom Scott and the LA Sound. A good example of an artist who is certainly going places, and is experimenting with a few of them right now.
Bending Light
On this album, produced by Geoffrey Rayback at the Purple Room (the first six tracks) and David Payne at Sugarhouse and Marmalade Square (the remaining seven), Eliza certainly reaches out into a number of musical areas and rounds out the whole thing with electric guitars and keys as well as a string section. They first part of the album starts out rather psychedelic but stays reasonably light as it drifts in and out of jazzy material that is similar to “Utah”, but more intensely produced. “I Do” is a well crafted folky love song that particularly stands out in this section. From then on, things get a little darker and the musical influences tend to be more blurred. There are infectious hooks and rhythms on “Allelula”, “Tip Of My Tongue” is a fusion of psychedelic jazz and blues while “Better Way” is an electro/keys driven ballad. There’s an interesting one minute instrumental on what is described on the sleeve as a guitorgan, and “Sunset Song” is best described as rock/jazz fusion. The last track is another version of “So Goes Time” with jazzy percussion and keys and a slightly different ending. This album takes a few listens to assimilate all the information and I am still not sure that I have taken it all in. Well worth exploring if you like music that makes you think.
Related Links
Eliza Wren Payne
Tags
Post a comment
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.seatwaveblogs.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/3156
