| The Irish Times Joe Breen 7.21.06 KRIS DELMHORST - Strange Conversation (Signature Sounds) ★★★★ This is a remarkable album that flirts with pretension and whistles past the graveyard of the singers who tried poetry for size and found it too tight for comfort. Boston-based singer-songwriter Kris Delmhorst was writing a new album when she came across an anthology of poetry. Eureka! She decided to use either the lyrics of the poems or just adapt their inspiration to create the 12 tracks. The result is as seamless and brave as it is brilliantly creative. Delmhorst crafts her music in the sound of Dixie horns and intimate hushed vocals buttressed by warm harmonies and empathic playing by a band at home with the sound turned up or down. Listen to these songs before you read them. For instance, don't let the fact that Virgil and Hermann Broch inspired the title track reduce its deliciously slinky appeal. |
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