Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Kate Bush - The Dreaming
Missy Higgins - The Sound of White
Radiohead - Amnesiac
Sting - Mercury Falling
Washington - There There
Rachael Yamagata - Chesapeake
Chesapeake is Rachael Yamagata sounding relatively bright and happy.
Apparently, this is something she has semi-apologised for, promising fans that her next album will go back to being dark and miserable. First of all I worry about any fans that complained about her music not sounding tortured enough, but hey, she wouldn't be the first artist to get that reaction. But she really shouldn't have apologised in any shape or form.
It's not actually that happy anyway. The lyrics still have plenty of angst in them, with failed or flawed relationships making regular appearances. The main difference is that the music has a bit of energy and bounce to it.
It also, as a consequence, has variety. Yamagata's previous album Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart has some fine music, but it is also seriously flawed due to the lack of variation. As much as anything this is due to her failure to wrestle Elephants into a single album, as she instead delivered 2 discs with contrasting musical styles. But the longer, ballad-laden disc needed an injection of energy from its companion.
And so Chesapeake is actually a vast improvement as a listening experience. I can't by any means say I've come to grips with the album yet, as I only had a relatively brief period of listening to it in March before having to lay it aside, but all the early impressions were favourable. As an overall album, it might well be Yamagata's best yet.
I recall liking Yamagata's second record back when it was released, but I haven't felt compelled to revisit the album since. There were some very strong songs but the split between ballads and more 'energetic' tracks definitely hindered the record's impact.
ReplyDeleteI hope you eventually get to listen to Sarah Slean's double album Land & Sea, which similarly divides its songs into 'pop/rock' (Land) and 'classical' (Sea) discs. However, there's enough melodic variation and change in dynamics within the Sea disc to make it a successful work on its own merits.
Thanks for the tip, Paul. That's actually the second recent mention of Sarah Slean for me, so I think I will need to check her out.
ReplyDeleteJust a heads-up: Slean has a pretty extensive and expansive discography, some of which is unavailable on streaming services. Absent entries include her independent debut album Blue Parade, the lovely Baroness Redecorates EP, and the live/bsides compilation Orphan Music).
ReplyDeleteYou may be interested to know that Slean has composed a couple of string quartets and performed with a wide variety of symphonies, including new music written specifically for her by modern composers like Christos Hatzis and Glenn Buhr.