Signature styles
Cross Record
Wabi-Sabi/Ba Da Bing Records
Emily Cross’ sophomore release is equal parts creepy, beautiful and utterly haunting. From the unusual opener, “The Curtains Part”—with its orchestral flourishes, off-kilter jazz horn, in-and-out ambient acoustic guitar and breathy, airy vocals—to “Wasp in a Jar”—with its plodding, thick-as-molasses bass and distorted electric guitar led by a steady cadence of a tambourine—this album is an engaging experience that is truly alternative. Where else are you going to hear everything from drum machines to the presence of a kalimba and a marimba? Or hear songs that one moment explore the depths of relationships, commitment, what we will do to protect them and how each differs from one another (“Two Rings”), and then liken the struggles of life to those of an insect (“Wasp in a Jar”)? Bright-eyed and energetic one moment, elegiac the next, Wabi-Sabi—a Japanese aesthetic that finds beauty in imperfection—is a diverse musical and emotional experience.
Sierra Hull
Weighted Mind/Rounder Records
The prodigious mandolinist is back with her third major-label release, and it’s killer. The title track is a sexy mix of bluegrass melodies, jazzy upright bass and vocals that sound more than a little vaudevillian, while the dreamlike mandolin ballad “Fallen Man” hits the other end of the spectrum, taking on a more solemn, mournful tone. Hull pulls no punches lyrically, filling this record with palpable tension. “Wings of the Dawn” is practically a church hymn, and “Birthday” immediately follows with lines about how unconditional love isn’t so unconditional anymore. Unsurprisingly, much of the narrative on Weighted Mind centers on someone who is dealing with a lot of emotional and personal situations as she tries to find her direction in life, as demonstrated by such titles as “Stranded,” “Compass” and “Choices and Changes,” and Hull approaches these moments with grace, courage and the occasional bit of wittiness to boot. She marries her internal struggles with gorgeous instrumentation throughout, making Weighted Mind a beautiful record.
Trixie Whitley
Porta Bohemica/Megaforce Records
After dazzling listeners with her left-of-center 2013 debut, Fourth Corner, Whitley’s long-awaited follow-up does not disappoint. “Salt” perhaps encapsulates the tone of the album best, and also gives listeners a sense of her vocal prowess. The track features dueling time signatures, a style that’s not quite rock and not quite ambient pop, and Whitley hitting the higher and lower registers with regularity. You truly never know what you’re going to get from her. The electric guitar on “Hourglass” incorporates a lively flamenco rhythm sensibility while the track as a whole is alternative rock via a ’60s era spy movie soundtrack. The midtempo synth rock of “New Frontiers” is paired to surprising effect with an anthemic, dramatic chorus about how Whitley’s going to find new frontiers, while the stirring closer, “The Visitor,” is a soulful, bluesy piano ballad with lyrics such as these: “I don’t need any more / Than what I give / I just want to be / With those who know secrets / Or else alone.” Porta Bohemica is an exotic, intoxicating release.