Azure Ray - November EP
(Saddle Creek)
On their new EP November, Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor make a subtle but substantial change in direction that makes their songs less easily linked with female singer-songwriters like Cat Power and Shannon Wright and more easily connected with the Quiet is the New Loud folk aesthetic, as headed by the Kings of Convenience. While ne'er a disparaging tone was found on the duo's debut album, November has ample use of sinister, ominous, and eerie tones that give the songs greater weight and depth, not conflicting with or taking away from the women's dreamy vocals but instead balancing them.
"Just a Faint Line" could be seen as the female counterpart to Kings of Convenience's "Parallel Lines." The songs create a similar sort of peaceful drifting feeling from just an acoustic guitar and two voices. Azure Ray creates that feeling from a chopping rhythm on the guitar that tugs at your ears, pulling you along with the song. The upper register vocals are balanced well by fluctuating synthesizer tones that alone would sound unnerving or spooky but blend in perfectly against Fink and Taylor's assuring words and voices.
"Other Than This World" ends the lengthy EP with a beautiful, depressing song. Here the balance needed for the women's voices is not found in low-pitched instruments but rather in sad, dark lyrics. Fink and Taylor whisper tales of abuse and "muffled screams," slowly unraveling the despair of the song, before wondering "maybe love and peace are waiting for us somewhere other than this world." The song then breaks out into a wonderful, cavernous sound of male-female vocals, sounding very much like a Low song as the singers "la-la-la-la" for the final minute of the EP.
"No Signs of Pain" also displays Azure Ray's newfound gift for balance, using a rumbling bass and an aggressive, fast clacking beat. Fink and Taylor's vocals are airy and pretty, wondering "how weightless they must be without feeling," however the beauty of their voices and words is perhaps overshadowed by the great instrumental sections of the song. These interludes continue the earthy bass and beat but instead match them with a clanking melody of cow-bell-like tones, soaring tones from an electric guitar, and the whir of a synthesizer. The strongest song to date by Azure Ray.
On the band's first album, Fink and Taylor tried hard to create dreamy songs solely from the combination of their wonderful voices and pure tones from their guitars and Eric Bachmann's understated arrangements. While that album was a great showcase for their voices and showed much potential, the album's simplicity kept it from fully succeeded in creating that beautiful, serene dreamlike listening experience the band was shooting for. Perhaps some will prefer the simpler arrangements, but songs like "No Signs of Pain" are the full package. Giving more confidence to their arrangements and their instruments, the songs show great balance, still showing all the power of their voices, but marrying it with music that is much more substantial.
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