Matthew Levinson

Love at first listen

Published on 12/11/07
by matt

I fell in love with Macy Gray’s debut, On How Life Is, about eight or nine years ago.

This wasn’t just some fling, well it didn’t seem like one – after getting the CD on promo about a half a year before the proper release, I listened to it repeatedly, told everyone about it, played it constantly. Like Badu and Mary J., Gray took hip-hop and classic soul and twisted it into a simmering groove. Unlike those singers, Gray was up close and intimate, snug and comfortable, the kind of singer whose music insinuates its way into you.

With a proper release, she found her way onto the soundtrack for every party, cafe, clothes shop and bar, seemingly right around the world. And, like so many distinctive singers, her voice quickly became a prison. Her once dear voice turned cloying.

Alela Diane’s kinda new record, The Pirate’s Gospel, reminds me of Gray. Not musically – far from it. The similarity’s in the proximity you feel to her voice, the up-close intensity of listening to her sing. I say ‘kinda’ because the album came out on a self-release several years ago, and has just been rereleased, courtesy Holocene/Inertia. I think it’s essential, but you may have to hold tight for the final verdict.

A song from Alela’s album: The Rifle (courtesy of Holocene Music).

My review of The Pirate’s Gospel for Cyclic Defrost.

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