Lucy Wainwright-Roche - There's A Last Time For Everything

Lucy Wainwright-Roche - There's A Last Time For Everything
2013, 1-2-3-4-Go!

 

Lucy Wainwright-Roche’s family line shouldn’t be strange to anyone.  The daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Suzzy Roche (The Roches), Lucy’s family also includes aunts Maggie and Terre Roche, Sloan Wainwright, and half-siblings Rufus and Martha Wainwright.  Although Lucy started late in the family business of music (she was originally a school teacher in New York City); she is quickly establishing herself as one of the most talented songwriters of the clan. Her 2011 album Lucy showed an artist capable of taking everyday moments and emotions and turning them into works of utter beauty.  On her recently released follow-up album, There’s A Last Time For Everything, Wainwright-Roche picks up right where she left off.

 

Wainwright-Roche opens with "This Year Will End Again", placing things like success and failure in the light of the cycle of the year. This philosophical exposition is laid bare on the stones of an utterly beautiful, string-laden arrangement.  The listener is caught up in the slow and inexorable build of beauty and meaning. "Seek & Hide" is an exploration of expectations versus reality in light of falling in love. Wainwright-Roche looks at her life through the eyes of an academic philosopher, generating questions more than answers. "Last Time" seeks to mark out the space between never was and always will be when it comes to relationships. It's hard not be blown away by the subtle yet powerful imagery Wainwright-Roche conjures here. The deep arrangements and her singular, lovely voice are additional layers that please the ear, but the songwriting is the thing that drives this experience. 

 

"Monte Rosa Range" reflects on a non-distinct memory that seems more a pastiche of time than a singular moment. Consider this a still life with moving parts, and consider Lucy Wainwright-Roche a master painter. "Look Busy" is a musical monologue of a friend consoling another in the face of loss. There is a sense of mixed emotions here where friendship and love may intermix, but our protagonist is keeping a careful distance for now. "Canterbury Song" has a quiet energy that is impossible to ignore. There is a love song in here somewhere, but it is buried in a momentary reflection on the past, stories and sparks. All the while, Wainwright-Roche paints with instruments, words and voice a gorgeous tableau. 

 

"Call Your Girlfriend" is a plaintive suggestion to end a love triangle by one of the points of that triangle. There's a plain spoken honesty here that's compelling, whatever your thoughts on the subject. Wainwright-Roche turns an awkward transition into a moving monologue that could be the centerpiece of an off-Broadway musical. "A Quiet Line" has one of the most unutterably beautiful choruses you'll ever hear, and tracks the history and questions of love in a gentle but vibrant waltz. "The Same" mulls cycles once again, and inability to change amidst the changes that occur around us.  "Take What You're Given" is another monologue that contrasts childhood reflections, complicated thoughts and a quiet hope for redemption. Wainwright-Roche creates gorgeous images with her words; compelling images that haunt your thoughts long after the music has fallen away. There's A Last Time For Everything closes with "Under The Gun", a relationship post mortem built on half truths and misunderstandings. Wainwright-Roche plucks beauty out if heartache like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, and sings it in tones of nascent confidence. 

 

Lucy Wainwright-Roche offers up a magical listening experience on There’s A Last Time For Everything.  Spinning musical webs around highly personal tales of love, loss and the inevitability of change, Wainwright-Roche bares her soul and psyche in subtly unrelenting fashion.  The power of her songwriting comes from simple truths buried in the lines, and the power of the music comes from the little touches; rhythms, counter-rhythms, sounds that seem extraneous but aren’t… the attention to detail on this album is mind-boggling, and every sound, note and rhythm is perfectly placed.  But what’s more, Lucy Wainwright-Roche sells each story without drama and without cliché; she simply tells it like it is in wonderfully poetic and flowing muse.  There’s A Last Time For Everything is a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc, but even that might not tell you how good it is.  This is one of those rare heirloom albums that you will carry with you for a lifetime.

 

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

 

Learn more at www.lucywainwrightroche.com. 

 

D.B. Rielly - Cross My Heart + Hope To Die

D.B. Rielly - Cross My Heart + Hope To Die
2013, Shut Up & Play!

D.B. Rielly stormed onto the music scene in 2010 with his debut album Love Potions and Snake Oil, landing on over a dozen “Best Of” lists for the year (including #1 album of the year on the Wildy’s World year-end countdown).  The New York City-based singer/songwriter brings an eclectic mix of country, zydeco, blues and rock and roll to the table, creating vast musical tableaux that serve as the perfect setting for his stories and songs.  Rielly recently dropped his second album, Cross My Heart + Hope To Die.  There is no sophomore jinx here; Rielly’s second album is as compelling as the first and perhaps even moreso.

Rielly gets started with a brilliantly rustic take on Bob Seger's "Turn the Page". There's a desolate beauty in the contrast between the stage and the hours of night where loneliness pervades. Rielly brings this to the fire with a utilitarian vocal style and subtle instrumental layering. "Wrapped Around Your Little Finger" finds Rielly and his band working a vibrant mix of zydeco and country. Sit still if you can.  "Some Day" is a swaying lament, played and sun in the style of Roy Orbison. Rielly handles this with a gentle reserve, channeling Orbison with an eerie precision. 

"Come Hell Or High Water" is one of the most powerfully elemental love songs you will ever hear, and Rielly delivers it in unvarnished fashion. There's a rough beauty here that is stunning. "Moving Mountains" is a song of faith in action built on a gently rolling arrangement. Reilly's band is at their low-key best here; everything is fluid yet full of a vibrant energy. "It's Gonna Be Me" is a bluesy tune with rock attitude.  The guitar work here is alive and kicking, and Rielly brings optimism and humor together in enjoyable fashion. 

"Untie Me" sounds like it could be a John Fogerty tune from the Creedencen Clearwater era. It's a great little number with a wicked backbeat guaranteed to get your hips shaking. "Your Doggin' Fool" is an anachronistic kiss off song that's well hewn and sung with a classic country sound. It's back to zydeco and country for "Roadrunner", with Rielly and his band turning in a bravura performance. Rielly closes with "Fiorchroi (True Heart)", a haunting ballad sung to a departed love one. Without cliché or glitter, Rielly offers a brilliant performance as elemental and lovely as you could imagine. 

After listening to Cross My Heart + Hope To Die, it is difficult to imagine Rielly not ending up on a bunch of year-end lists again.  The album probably dropped a bit late for GRAMMY consideration this year, but Rielly deserves that sort of attention for his work.  Cross My Heart + Hope To Die takes you through emotional depths without the saccharine or overreach common in pop music, but also conveys a level of mastery as a songwriter, performer and vocalist that is rare in any genre.  D.B. Rielly has done it again, and Cross My Heart + Hope To Die is nothing less than a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc!

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.dbrielly.com.  

Jonus Preston - Heaven To Hell

Jonus Preston – Heaven To Hell
2013, Jonus Preston

Jonus Preston is a New York City singer/songwriter with social conscience.  Inspired to set aside the rigidly flexible structure of Jazz by the Sandy Hook tragedy, Preston picked up a guitar and began to sing about the pain this event caused.  Hooked on the singer/songwriter style; Preston continues to record/release songs that show his love for different styles of, and approaches to music.  His current single is “Heaven To Hell”.

“Heaven To Hell” is a syrupy ballad with a rock and roll pedigree and odd lyrical constructs.  Preston’s voice is a pleasant listen, and the arrangement is pleasing to the ear with its sonic depth.  The lyrics dance on the edge of absurdity at times, but aren’t inconsistent with a geeky sort of infatuation.  Preston will be on your radar after you hear “Heaven To Hell”, and it will be curious to see whatever else he might have up his sleeve.

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.facebook.com/jonusprestonmusic. 

 

The Consoultant - Hit It Out The Park

The Consoultant - Hit It Out Of The Park
2013, The Consoultant

Selita Boyd is a software consultant by day and a rising pop/R&B star by night.  Plying her wares in the city of Atlanta, The Consoultant can do it all, musically, with a larger than life personality and a healthy dose of wit.  Perhaps the nicest thing about the Consoultant is that her music is family friendly, meaning that everyone from 8 to 80 can get in on the party.  With a new album, Need Someone, coming in February 2014, the Consoultant recently dropped a new baseball themed single entitled “Hit It Out Of The Park”.

Don’t be surprised if you develop a love/hate relationship with this song.  From a writing perspective it’s absolutely derivative and unoriginal.  If you’re familiar with “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”, then “Hit It Out Of The Park” is like a chopped version of that song.  To the left, the song is incredibly catchy, and fits in nicely with the 'Jock Jams' set. It's easy to imagine a major league stadium full of fans rocking out to this tune during a pitching change.   Don’t be surprised if The Consoultant gets stuck inside your head with this tune and simply won’t leave.  Of course, there is often an element of this in great pop songs.  You know, the songs you might complain about to your friends, but then you always turn the volume up real high when they come on in the car.

That’s the sort of experience The Consoultant has created here. 

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.theconsoultant.com. 

R Michael Rhodes - Please Remember Me

R Michael Rhodes - Please Remember Me

2012, R Michael Rhodes

R Michael Rhodes continues to follow the boomerang of his life.  During the 1980’s Rhodes recorded sides in Nashville and had some minor chart success.  The path forward seemed clear until domestic responsibilities collided with his music career.  Rhodes chose the path of love, duty and responsibility and built a life around family.  But as nests began to empty and new pathways began to open, Rhodes found himself once again called by his muse.  Rhodes writes with a straightforward elegance, a pure observational songwriter.  His latest EP, Please Remember Me, is a collection of lamentations over loves lost.

Rhodes leads with the heartfelt duet "You'll Never Know", featuring an undisclosed female vocalist. This is a nice lead track, well written and sung with two voices that complement each other very well. Rhodes himself has an unobtrusive voice, but sings with a sincerity that's appealing. This comes across strongest in "Chasin' Ghosts", the lament of a road warrior who finally realizes he's been searching the wrong path all along. "Where Are You Now" seems a likely follow up after discovering the person at the end of the right path has stopped waiting. The chorus is beautiful in its sadness, and is sung without the dramatic clichés you might expect. 

Rhodes rolls into "A Little Bit Tighter", another son of regret, this time about a childhood romance. This is the lament of a man seeing his schoolboy crush marry someone else, and the perquisite 'what ifs' implied. Rhodes closes out with one final, hopeful lament with "Special Place For Me".  This gentle act of martyrdom is more self-soothing than anything else, and the easy country strains of the arrangement mark the precipice of a long winded goodbye. 

If it is true that songwriters write what they know, then R Michael Rhodes is one of the unluckiest artists you'll hear in 2013. This EP might properly be retooled Lamentations, and that heaviness weighs listeners down in spite of the generally gentle beauty of the music. Fleshing this EP out into a full length album interspersed with some more vibrant material would make it easier for most listeners to consume. As it is Please Remember Me is too inward focused and self-soothing to be of much interest to most listeners, regardless of how well written and how sincere it might be.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.michaelrhodes.com.  

YUCA - Rebuilding The Empire

YUCA - Rebuilding the Fallen Empire
2013, Rising Empire Records

Langley, British Columbia rockers YUCA don’t follow the typical formula for rock and roll success.  High minded and wide open arrangements are the order of the day on their second full-length album Rebuilding The Empire.  The band has a love for all things U2, or so you would gather from their sound, which is at times derivative but very commercial.  Rebuilding The Empire finds lead vocalist Matt Borck stretching his voice to the limits, while the rest of the band struggles to find a sound that includes their innate ethereality and a sense of vitality.

YUCA launches out of the gate with "Skeletal Desires", adding a touch of Latin jazz flair to a hard-driving melodic arrangement with a slinky horn section.  "Melt" is a big, wide open commercial rock song predicated on minimalist verses and a bland arena style chorus. The saving grace of the song is Matt Borck's voice. "Maybe We'll Riot" suffers from its own ambiguity.  An energetic, neo-disco arrangement surrounds lyrics that are more speculative than anything else. "Heavy As A Stone" keeps up the highly refined sound and the almost detached lyrical air that has been evident thus far. The chorus of the song is dressed up on gorgeous vocal triads, but there is a decided lack of conviction in the performance. 

"I'm Alive She Said" is a stadium churner done in the style of U2. Borck has the right sound, and the band presents the right approach, but the energy that turns this from ho hum to rattle and hum never materializes.   "Love" is a big skulking musical monster that tests the edges of Borck's voice. The song is all tension and no resolution, substituting drama for development.  YUCA gets personal on "Where Are My Soldiers At?"  The opening of the song is pretty and stripped down with a misty air, but this quickly resolves into a sort of cookie cutter adult rock arrangement. 

"Anthem Of Need" tries to shake off the distance with an insistent bass-driven rhythm, and YUCA partially succeeds with a memorable chorus. Unfortunately the cookie cutter feel of the songwriting never subsides. "Give Up My Ghost" amps up the energy, but the bland, post adult rock sound continues in what should be a dynamic rock track. YUCA closes with "Sparrow", which starts out as a stripped down, ethereal number. It stays there, bathing a song of support in emotional melancholy. 

YUCA mines the sound of bands such as U2 and Coldplay in trying to put forth their own band persona.  This ethereal, big rock sound is both enjoyable and frustrating as YUCA spends the time on Rebuilding The Empire making musical shadow animals when they should carving out their own niche.  The result is a well meant but hollow and derivative sound.  YUCA knows who they are trying to be, but it doesn’t seem like they know who they are yet.  That being said, there’s very solid musicianship here, and Matt Borck has a voice that can front a big time band. YUCA just needs to find that thing that makes the unique and bring it out in their music.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.yuca.ca.  

Kelley James - The Pattern Transcending

Kelley James - The Pattern Transcending
2013, Kelley James Music

Kelley James might just be the next icon of modern pop.  Mixing pop, rock, freestyle rap and electronic sounds with old fashioned acoustic guitars, Kelley makes a little bit of music for all tastes and styles.  James has toured with O.A.R., Mike Posner, Shwayze and Joshua Radin and has played a number of high profile gigs over the past five years.  Whether or not you like his style, James is a barometer of the moment, moving from style to style as no barriers exist between them.  Kelley James’ new album, The Pattern Transcending, sounds a bit young lyrically at times, but the infectious tunes are all most people will need to hear to fall for James’ quirky style.

James gets things rolling with the edgy, electro-alternative sounds of "Marinade", a coital daydream with foodie pretensions. "Sucks" is all about missing your favorite person. The simple construct of this song makes it a bit of affable ear candy with radio potential.  "That's My Girl" is a simple celebration of love or lust. The writing here is young, but the sentiments are clear. "Don't Want to Let You Go" features James in a speak/sing navel gazer lamenting the end of a relationship. This one has a whiny feel that weighs on the listener. 

James pulls out a reggae beat for "Stalker", wherein James details all the reasons he's not, but ends up admitting he may be. The lighthearted attempt at humor falls flat, as James goes for a joke that is too easy and obvious. "Secret Lover" laments being in a relationship with a woman who "acts like a dude'. James is left to wonder why she won't call or text the next day.  "Carolina" is a love song to the region, with a hook filled chorus that you can't quite get out of your head. James is at his best here. Don't be surprised of this song ends up as part of a tourism campaign at some point.  "Wonderful Place" has a mellower feel to it, and explores how any place can take on beauty if it’s enjoyed with the right person. 

"The Legend of Rip Venice" is the sort of pop song that makes serious waves. Killer hooks with elements of pop, soul and funk as well as a bit of 1970s flavor make this eminently listenable. "California" is a bit bland and predictable, but James recovers with the reggae jam "This Means War". There's good energy here, and James shows a bit more complexity in his song construction.  The album slips away with a lovely parting shot in the form of "Brother", a gentle ode to friendship; family and making dreams come true. This is a masterful piece of songwriting, both deeply personal and universal all at once.  The chorus does fall into cliché a bit, but it’s a trivial sin in an otherwise memorable song. 

Kelley James is both better and worse than advertised.  The main has a knack for catchy, hook-filled pop songs as well snappy lyrical flows.  Unfortunately he also has a tendency to arrive at some truly awkward lyrical backlogs at times.  These approach laughable status at times, but more often than not they serve merely as a distraction to the catchy pop craft on The Pattern Transcending.  One gets the idea that perhaps James is just trying to be too cute in his wordplay.  Either way, there’s a whole world of potential here.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.kelleyjames.com.