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Amelia - A Long, Lovely List Of Repairs
- Amelia is comprised of 3 artists, none of whose name is Amelia. The members include Teisha Helgerson who provides the voice and the drums, Jesse Emerson who plays the bass, and Scott Weddle playing the guitar and also providing back up vocals. The band that resides in Portland, Oregon, is on its third album release with A Long, Lovely List Of Repairs.
From the start, the CD had me. Helgerson’s voice spoke or rather sang to me. On the first track, “Enimiga,” I could not understand a word of it what she sang since it was in Spanish, but I could still feel her emotions. Her voice has the right mix of soul, jazz, blues, and innocence. It took me a few songs to hear just how similar she sounds to Norah Jones, but there is something more original about the way Helgerson uses her voice. It really is a lot more like an instrument for the songs, not just there to tell the story. Not to say the stories aren’t good, the lyrics in “Needlework” are especially telling and emotion filled.
The CD has the same basic feel to every song; they are slow and mellow and usually depressing. The repetitiveness works in this case though, because it creates a consistency in the mood. Some of the songs have a haunting nursery rhyme feel to them. “Dolores” and “Try” have that feeling the most, as it seems that a lesson should be learned from the sorrow in the song.
The music is enthralling and addictive. There is a Spanish feel to some of the songs and even though most of the songs are slow there is a beat to them. It is easy to picture two dancers dancing to these songs. Especially in the instrumental, “Thick As Thieves” I can see a male and female dancer having a dance off and teasing/flirting with one another before meeting up in the end. The two instrumental songs on the CD are very different and only “Thick As Thieves” is good. The other instrumental, “The End” is a piano piece that really just sounds like something one might play at a piano lesson.
A Long, Lovely List Of Repairs is very good and has an intriguing sound. It would be great to listen to if one needed to mellow out or get some work done. I would definitely recommend buying it. Most if not all of the songs could easily become your favorite if you are into blues or contemporary lounge music. In my opinion track 9, “Sugar Falls” is the best. Give that a listen and you’ll be hooked.
The CD will be available on Amazon April 22nd and can be pre-ordered now.
Reviewer: Mallory Groff
new
Reviewer's Rating: 8.5
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
Added: 17-Mar-2008
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