vivfox
05-06-2008, 10:39 AM
The stripped-down shows expose the emotion coursing through Ms. Ternheim's songs in a more raw and vulnerable way — so much so that they become almost minimalist. Much of her new album features a glimmering, cinematic production, which lights up lyrics that can unreel like little psychological essays or resolve into fairly simple pop reveries.
Themes are accented by strings, tasteful bits of guitar, the sounds of birds chirping, and often are anchored by a sturdy, jazz-inflected bass line or a piano figure evoking a Latin influence. An existential jingle such as "To Be Gone" ("I just wanna be / wanna be gone") feints toward a kind of bolero one moment, and might easily tip over into trip-hop the next. On the other hand, when Ms. Ternheim covers Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies," she settles for buffering the delicate clarity of her voice with a plucked melody on guitar. The spare quality recaptures something touching in Christine McVie's lyrics that might have been forgotten.
"I'm trying to find the perfect song that's good either way," Ms. Ternheim said. "You can put any kind of clothes on music. That version of 'To Be Gone' on the album is my favorite version. I've done it on piano, on guitar, on harmonium, with a beat, with a band, with a trio, with a synthesizer, but you get something with an acoustic show that you don't get with a band."
http://www2.nysun.com/article/75917?page_no=2
Themes are accented by strings, tasteful bits of guitar, the sounds of birds chirping, and often are anchored by a sturdy, jazz-inflected bass line or a piano figure evoking a Latin influence. An existential jingle such as "To Be Gone" ("I just wanna be / wanna be gone") feints toward a kind of bolero one moment, and might easily tip over into trip-hop the next. On the other hand, when Ms. Ternheim covers Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies," she settles for buffering the delicate clarity of her voice with a plucked melody on guitar. The spare quality recaptures something touching in Christine McVie's lyrics that might have been forgotten.
"I'm trying to find the perfect song that's good either way," Ms. Ternheim said. "You can put any kind of clothes on music. That version of 'To Be Gone' on the album is my favorite version. I've done it on piano, on guitar, on harmonium, with a beat, with a band, with a trio, with a synthesizer, but you get something with an acoustic show that you don't get with a band."
http://www2.nysun.com/article/75917?page_no=2