Katey Laurel - From Here

Katey Laurel - From Here

2011, Roaring Twenties Records

Katey Laurel has come a long way since her 2008 debut album, Upstairs, Downstairs.  Showing a gift for songwriting and a folky/pop style ala Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon or Jewel, the album was a stellar introduction to a young talent.  Laurel waited three years, but returns with From Here.  Laurel has made the transition from folky pop music to Triple-A artist with From Here.  This transition required a step backward to move forward, as this bigger sound is a more difficult fit with Laurel’s highly personal lyric style.  But Laurel proves she’s got the goods by making it work on From Here.

From Here opens with "Begin Again", blending the dark melancholy of a relationship nearing its end into the upbeat sound of new life and hope.  You can hear the velvet strains of a country song in this number, but the dark-to-light pop feel works well.  Laurel's voice is sweet and soft; full of its own velvety power but gentle in its touch.  "Everything I Love" is a sweet, 1970's pop singer/songwriter confection with mild pep.  The quietly catchy melody is appealing, and Laurel is convincing in her sentimentality.  "The Wheel" casts the cycle of a relationship from start to finish in song; from the first stir of emotions to the emptiness in its wake.  This is a great bit of subdued pop songwriting; catchy, articulate and real.

"From Here" features Laurel in her best voice, enlivening a somewhat nondescript number that holds its place in the middle of the album.  "Somebody Like You" is a solid love ballad featuring the staple sound of a radio program such as Delilah.  “Blue Sky’s Comin’” steps up to mid-tempo pop, but it are as if the spark that drove the first three songs on the album has been subdued in the middle of From Here.  Laurel's voice is as pretty as ever, but the middle of the album lacks that special quality that Laurel is able to bring out from time to time.  "Piece Of The Moon" takes steps in reviving the light, but Laurel doesn't really get back there until the album's closing track, "My Funny Boy".  Here, Laurel is at her charming best in a lovey-dovey jazz ballad.

From Here shows off Katey Laurel's vocal and songwriting talents nicely, but also displays an inertial tendency that might wear on some listeners.  While focusing on the ups and downs of love, Katey Laurel speaks from the heart in an honest voice; singing in a sweet, semi-conversational style that's party story-teller and part confessional.  Musically, the album is incredibly static.  This is good in that Laurel's sound is appealing to the ear, but the lack of any real dynamic shifts on From Here may not sit well with all listeners.  Laurel's songwriting has certainly progressed over the past few years.  From Here, at its best, displays the remarkable songwriter that Katey Laurel can be, but also shows the struggle of a talented young artist still learning what she's capable of. 

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Katey Laurel at www.kateylaurel.com or www.myspace.com/kateylaurel.  From Here is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.  The album is also available via iTunes.

Alice Ripley - Daily Practice, Volume 1

Alice Ripley - Daily Practice, Volume 1
2011, Sh-K-Boom Records

TONY winner Alice Ripley has been acting on and off Broadway for twenty years, as well as recording albums and gigging with her band Ripley and creating works on canvas and in mixed media.  As an artist whose creative energies seem to have no end, Ripley often uses one art form to balance off another.  So it was in 2009, when Ripley played conjoined twin Diana in Next To Normal.  Aside from earning Ripley a TONY for best actress in a musical as well as a Helen Hayes award, Next To Normal left Ripley with another legacy.  Each night Ripley would return to her hotel room and recover from the emotional weight of her performance by singing some of her favorite songs while accompanying herself on acoustic guitar.   These impromptu therapy sessions were memorialized on the album Daily Practice, Volume 1, released earlier this year on Sh-K-Boom Records.

Daily Practice, Volume 1 is raw and unvarnished, featuring Alice Ripley in an almost manic performance state.  The result is unsettling at times, striking at others, and throughout is underscored by the emotional complexities and beauties of the human condition.  Ripley opens with Carole King's "It's Too Late".  This is one of the mellower offerings on the album, but Ripley's vocal performance is impassioned and full of emotion.   "Message In A Bottle" is halting and uncertain at times.  While the original version by the Police seems to focus more on the hope for salvation, Ripley's version seems more focused on the desolation and hopelessness of the narrator's position.  The performance is striking and raw, delivered in the uncomfortable tones of someone who doesn't know what to do next.

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is played straight to the letter, but misses the soaring feel of the original in a workman-like performance.  Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" is slowed down a bit, with Alice Ripley all over the place vocally.  Ripley seems to relish the emotional outbursts of the song, articulating representatives of the FCC's seven deadly words with particular fervor.  "Essence" (Lucinda Williams) displays a particular vulnerability; the emotional charge in Ripley's voice is palpable and real. 

Ripley goes all out for Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road", capturing the gritty honesty of Springsteen's writing style perfectly.  The sense of hope and joy amidst a dreary world is compelling.  Nanci Griffith's "The Flyer" drips with the loneliness of the road, staying true to the original.  Ripley takes on The Eagles' "Take It Easy" in halting fashion.  It's a solid cover, but doesn't have the carefree feel of the original.  Ripley takes a fair shot at R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts", but sounds overwrought.  The whiney, self-involved nature of the song and the heaviness of Ripley's voice just don't make for a great mix.  Ripley closes on sound footing with a solid cover of Carly Simon's "Anticipation".

Cover albums are always fraught with difficulties for fans and critics alike, but Daily Practice, Volume 1 is not your typical cover album.  The ten songs collected here represent a daily process of catharsis that allowed Ripley to maintain her balance during one of the most trying roles of her career.  The unvarnished nature of the album will give some listeners pause.  This is Alice Ripley, warts and all.  Most artists would never have the audacity to release recording in such a raw state.  From a purely aesthetic standpoint, Daily Practice, Volume 1is raw and unsettling.  Put into perspective, it becomes a statement of freedom, and of that particular beauty that grows from human imperfection and perseverance.  Daily Practice, Volume 1 comes straight from the heart.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

 Alice Ripley's web presence is fleeting and hard to find.  Her blog, aliceripleylinkup.blogspot.com has not been updated in a while, but you can pick up some good information about her there.  The site for her band, Ripley, www.myspace.com/ripleytheband has also not been updated in a while.  Luckily, Daily Practice, Volume 1 is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.  The album is also available via iTunes.