Sonna - We Sing Loud Sing Soft Tonight
(Temporary Residence)
Last October I was lucky enough to see Sonna, a mostly instrumental four-piece band
consisting of 2 guitars, drums, Rhodes/piano, and bass, play at CMJ in New York. We
were so blown away by the show that we ended up leaving CMJ a day early to catch
another Sonna performance in New Haven, CT, and that show was even better.
Soon after that, I interviewed
Sonna for fakejazz and found out that their upcoming debut full-length
album included all the songs from the live shows I had seen, and that they were recorded
almost completely live with Steve Albini. So, needless to say, I was more than a little
excited.
"The Opener," the first song on We Sing Loud Sing Soft Tonight, consists of steady
drumming, a subtle bass line, and two intricately picked guitars using slight amounts
of delay. Through the course of the song, both the bass and the two guitars all play
off of the melodies of the other instruments, each one becoming the focus of the song
at one time or another. As one instrument becomes the focus of the song, the others
evolve and develop into new patterns that keep "The Opener" continuously moving forward,
even after the drums drop out half way through.
On the remaining five tracks, using, to some varying degree, this same amazing mix of
beautifully intertwined guitar lines, bass guitar, and piano/Rhodes melodies and just
the right amount of drumming, Sonna successfully creates a solid album that flows
perfectly and never gets stale. And, while We Sing Loud Sing Soft Tonight can't
quite compare to seeing them live (really, what could?), it will easily be in my
top 5 releases of 2001.
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