As I go further down the rabbit hole of music this year I continue to
discover great music. Of course I have somewhat been hedging my bets by
deciding to pick up these albums, by bands I have never heard of making
music I do not quite know how to classify before listening to them, by
choosing ones which have been very well received to begin with. So what I
will be saying here is not much different from anything else anyone may
have said about Beth Jeans Houghton and her backing band's debut album
other than it may be less informed and written with less intelligent
sounding analysis. Houghton is a British singer in her early 20s, but
this album has me hopeful of a long career.
The music, even after having listened to it, is not easily classified because it fits into so many different categories, just look at the tags I put on this post. She has been described as a 'sweet and gentle' folk musician, but while I recognize the folk aspects of her singer-songwriter modus operandi, there are also elements of other things which seep into the songs to make them unique experiences all their own. These influences make the songs sound more alt at times than folk, more glam and more pop, but at the end of the day I guess it would be easiest to fit her into folk, which is why it is curious that I hear a bit of Florence Welch in her music. I think that is mostly because of her voice, which is magnificent and easily the best part of every song on the album.
There are some really promising songs here, which start strong right out of the gate. The first two tracks on the album, "Sweet Tooth Bird" and "Humble Digs", manage to take traditional march driven beats and make them into fun pop songs. But the meat of the album is featured in the sweet sandwich "Dodecahedron" and "Nightswimmer" make around the more upbeat, yet still sweetness twinged "Atlas". I guess sweet is the right word to describe Houghton, though a quick listen doesn't necessarily register that word into the mindset, but that is because the sweetness is balanced with a certain level of edge which keeps each song all the more interesting and unpredictable. Definitely a strong debut, by an artist with a great voice who will keep me looking out for her in the future.
The music, even after having listened to it, is not easily classified because it fits into so many different categories, just look at the tags I put on this post. She has been described as a 'sweet and gentle' folk musician, but while I recognize the folk aspects of her singer-songwriter modus operandi, there are also elements of other things which seep into the songs to make them unique experiences all their own. These influences make the songs sound more alt at times than folk, more glam and more pop, but at the end of the day I guess it would be easiest to fit her into folk, which is why it is curious that I hear a bit of Florence Welch in her music. I think that is mostly because of her voice, which is magnificent and easily the best part of every song on the album.
There are some really promising songs here, which start strong right out of the gate. The first two tracks on the album, "Sweet Tooth Bird" and "Humble Digs", manage to take traditional march driven beats and make them into fun pop songs. But the meat of the album is featured in the sweet sandwich "Dodecahedron" and "Nightswimmer" make around the more upbeat, yet still sweetness twinged "Atlas". I guess sweet is the right word to describe Houghton, though a quick listen doesn't necessarily register that word into the mindset, but that is because the sweetness is balanced with a certain level of edge which keeps each song all the more interesting and unpredictable. Definitely a strong debut, by an artist with a great voice who will keep me looking out for her in the future.
***
Track Picks: ""Dodecahedron", "Atlas", "Nightswimmer"
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Author: Adam Kuhn
Source: Corndog Chats
Date: March 13, 2012
Original article: HERE
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