I absolutely love the cover art for Sara Lov's debut solo album Seasoned Eyes Were Beaming (she formerly fronted the UK act the Devics), and especially appreciated it when I discovered that Sara drew it herself. It holds under its strange artistic mix of Alice In Wonderland and The Nightmare Before Christmas ten tracks that are reassuringly morose food for the melancholy. Presented by Sara's enchanting voice, these songs make you just want to cry if they hold even a fraction of autobiographical import and question how so much could happen to one woman. In fact, the most upbeat song here is her cover of Simon & Garfunkel's Old Friends, in itself not overly sunny, but at least promises togetherness at age 70, a wish not granted in many of the other songs here about love lost or unrequited.Listening to her very much reminded me of one of my favorites discoveries of last year, Kate Walsh, another woman with a beautiful voice whose musical expression touchs on love, and who coincidentally just recorded a session for Daytrotter. What is especially exciting about that for fans is that three of the fours tracks there for listening are brand new ones, with only one, Tonight, from her debut Tim's House. With such a finely deft musical touch, Kate's sound isn't all that different in an acoustic setting, which makes getting three unreleased cuts well worth the visit. I've shared one of the newbies below (As He Pleases), but please follow the link to get the other three.
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5 comments:
Absolutely -- Lov's voice is enchanting. I'm only familiar with one Devics song, though, from a few years back. I think it was called The Key. Would you recommend any of their albums? Do you prefer this solo album?
Speaking of melancholy, I've been listening to Kate York's "Rains Here Too," off of her For You album. Have you heard it? I highly recommend it. The chorus really gets to me, with the lyrics "so I drove all this way to get away from you, but it rains here too." (I am not sure if I just violated some blog etiquette by quoting a song in the comments section ... ) But if you haven't caught up to it, please check it out.
To be honest, I'm not familiar with the Devics at all, but wanted to mention it for any readers who were.
No worries about blog etiquette. You can share your shoe size if it relates to the music at all.
I downloaded Kate York tonight off of eMusic and have listened to about 2/3rds of it and enjoyed it. So far I think my favorite is "Go," but I haven't heard the whole thing yet, so... Want to write a review of it for me?
Oh, good, I'm glad you are enjoying it.
Um, by "review" I take it you mean more than a sentence saying "this is cool, so check it out," huh? Ha ha. Well ... I've never written one before ... but I guess I could give it a try. You'd probably have to, like, rewrite it and make it post-worthy.
Yet again Sean, I have to thank you for introducing me to great music. Alice and Wonderland meets the Nightmare Before Christmas? What a great description of the album art and the music lying underneath. Sara Lov has found a spot on my "to buy" list, and in my heart.
Also, thank you for letting me know about the bad link. Exile in Guyville is amazing, and I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on a live (and free) recording of the album.
Jane,
By "review" I mean write a full post about it! Drop me an e-mail if you're interested - teachbreed (at) yahoo.com.
Music Snob,
Glad you are enjoying Sara. If you have an eMusic account, both the album and an EP (that I haven't heard) are available. Thanks for posting on the NPR show, it's a great recording.
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