Sheri Miller - Winning Hand

Sheri Miller - Winning Hand
2011, Sheri Miller

Sheri Miller made an impact quickly.  Her 2008 debut album, Mantra, spawned an underground hit in "Right Here, Right Now", and earned her recognition as one of Music Connection's 'Hot 100 Unsigned Artists'.  An invitation to join a group called The Delilahs resulted in a major label contract and opportunities to write songs with the likes of J.D. Souther, Jill Sobule, Shawn Mullins and Al Anderson (NRBQ).  Unfortunately the band fell apart, and Miller found herself on her own again.  She did the only thing a songwriter could do; she kept writing and performing.  The result is Miller's sophomore EP, Winning Hand, featuring a top-notch band with members who have played with the likes of Paul Simon, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, David Bowie and Suzanne Vega.  Winning Hand was produced by Kevin Killern (U2, Peter Gabriel), and represents significant growth on the excellent start Miller got off to with Mantra. 

Winning Hand sets sails with an Americana/pop love song in the form of "Spoons".  It's a brilliant low-key pop tune featuring gorgeous harmonies and a memorable chorus.  This could be a bonafide hit for Miller, and will likely be a winner in the licensing world as well.  "Winning Hand" is a languorous Americana ballad about taking the chance to fall in love.  Miller's melody is winsome, but the overall effect is a touch bland.  "Satellite" has an acoustic southern rock feel that's appealing.  A quiet anthem screaming to have big guitar sound pumped in, the song remains an enjoyable listen even in this stripped down form.  "Everybody Feels This Way Sometimes" seems a bit out of place here.  It's a decent enough tune, but doesn't have the same energy or sense of personality as the other tracks presented here.  Winning Hand winds up with "Hungry For The Truth", a dark rocker about figuring out the meaning of life, no matter the cost.  The song is quietly impressive, sneaking up on you and growing in estimation with each successive listen.  It's probably the most impressive piece of songwriting Sheri Miller has unveiled thus far; showing a much more complex and intricate side to her songwriting psyche than one might expect.

Sheri Miller continues to impress, showing more levels and layers to her lyrics and composition than on the formidable Mantra EP.  The best way to describe Sheri Miller is to say she's a star in waiting.  In the days of major label dominance, Sheri Miller would already have a major record deal, and would be in demand as both a songwriter and performer.  Life is both easier and harder in the post-label era, but Miller's progression as a songwriter in the last three years speaks of wonderful things to come down the road.  Winning Hand has its rough spots, but when Miller is on her game there are few better.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Sheri Miller at www.sherimiller.com or www.myspace.com/sherimiller. 

Paper Thick Walls - A Thousand Novels

Paper Thick Walls - A Thousand Novels
2011, Paper Thick Walls

Paper Thick Walls had a busy year in 2010.  The quintet of Eric Michaels (vocals/guitar/motif); Kate Schell (vocals/piano/trumpet); Roger Sherman (upright bass); Andrew Sabo (drums) and Jacques René (fiddle/mandolin/guitar) graced the stage at SXSW, NXNE and CMJ Music Marathon.  In the process they came to the attention of sound engineer Mike Hagler (Wilco, Neko Case) with a sound that's been compared to Sufjan Stevens and Arcade Fire.  Hagler took the boards to help Paper Thick Walls create their debut album, "A Thousand Novels", out May 3, 2011.  Mixing intricate orchestral folk/pop arrangements with articulate tales born of fancy, Paper Thick Walls cut an intriguing musical path.

A Thousand Novels hits the ground with the lush folk/pop blend of "Old Weathered Dock".  The song is a collection of visual mementos set to a catchy and quirky orchestrated arrangement.  Between Kate Schell's exceedingly pleasant vocal lead, Eric Michaels' Peter Gabriel-esque secondary vocal and the airy, orchestrated arrangement, "Old Weathered Deck" is a breath of fresh air.  "Sighs Of Relief" is a painted poem set to music about meeting someone new and falling in love, diverting into the healing power of love as an aside.  It's a pretty, piano-based tune fleshed out into full, layered orchestration.  Schell and Michaels duet on "Orange Tree", an optimistic song sung on the run from the law.  This memorable tale matches an occasionally bitter circumstance against a sweet and dreamy arrangement that reflects the unreality of the situation.  Don't be surprised if you fall in love with the chorus on first listen.

"Nyquil" is quasi-psychedelic folk, extolling the beauty of one to a host of heavenly bodies.  The song has an odd-yet-charming quality wrapped up in its abstract exploration of consequence.  "A Thousand Novels" is a love story of two people torn apart by war.  This is not your typical song of love overcoming any circumstance unless you're into the metaphysical outcome.  The focus here is how love will be memorialized, and is touching if a bit out of the ordinary.  "Desolate Place" explores the transformation of a relationship's aftermath into rebuilding.   The musical arrangement parallels the story in loneliness and loss with an intriguing theatrical feel in spite of the almost ethereal melancholy that pervades the song. 

"Portrait" is a duet about love and beauty in the abstract, as it exists in our minds but oft times not in our realities.  The media here are paintings, words and memories, but the connection evades in a gorgeous arrangement born of guitar, percussion and bass.  "Overgrown" is a catchy acoustic rocker that finds Eric Michaels out in front.  It's a solid love song that's a bit wordy for its own good, but overcomes this with a pragmatic and catchy arrangement that grabs your attention.  Paper Thick Walls say goodnight with "Infinite", a number that vacillates between introspective, depressive verses and a jaunty chorus.  The mix is jarring, but works well as varying motifs on the theme of falling apart.

Like Belle And Sebastien before them, Paper Thick Walls have found a sound that is both articulate in composition and lyrically melodic.  The converse is so obvious it need not be stated.  A Thousand Walls sucks listeners in the way a great book envelopes your mind.  Musically, lyrically and dramatically, Paper Thick Walls challenge listeners to listen actively and participate on an intellectual and emotional level.  A Thousand Walls will keep you coming back for more.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Paper Thick Walls at www.paperthickwalls.com or www.myspace.com/paperthickwalls.  A Thousand Novels is due out May 3, 2011 and is available for digital pre-order from Amazon.com.  Expect wider availability to follow in both digital and traditional formats.

Ari Hest - Sunset Over Hope Street

Ari Hest - Sunset Over Hope Street
2011, Mercer Street/Downtown Records

Ari Hest had it all:  A record deal with Columbia Records; tours; airplay and national recognition.  But something wasn’t right.  Hest walked away from the major so he could have more control over his music.  It started with a project to write 52 songs in 52 weeks, opening Hest up to deeper creativity that he couldn’t access under the yoke of corporate masters.  2011 sees Hest return with what may be his best work to date, Sunset Over Hope Street.

Sunset Over Hope Street opens with "Until Next Time", which plays like a dreamy outcast from an off-Broadway musical.  Hest explores the heart-breaking vacillations of a flighty love who slips away like dreams upon waking.  Piano providers a spark as a counter to Hest's plaintive baritone, and could easily be written to an artist's muse.  "How Would I Know" is a love song that begs the age-old question of whether his love is 'the one'.  He doesn't know, but is carrying on as if she is.  "A Way Back Home" is a subtle rock tune vaguely reminiscent of Peter Gabriel.

Hest engages in interesting social commentary in "Business Of America", taking on the socio-economic system in the United States that places the desire for more over the needs of the many.  There's a pervasive melancholy that runs through this beautifully-written and poignant tune.  "One Track Mind" is a gorgeous, but sad song about a couple at loggerheads.  He wants her to change while she acknowledges the co-existence of a desire to change and her seeming inability.  This is the tragedy of a true love between two people simply can't co-exist.  "If I Knew You'd Say Yes" is an edgy, electric guitar-driven tune where love and desire run up against deep insecurity.  The narrator is frozen in place, caught between what he wants and what he fears.

"Sunset Over Hope Street" is a poetic diagnostic of a relationship that's falling apart.  Hest uses gorgeous imagery to explain the facts in academic terms, while palpable heartbreak simmers just beneath.  "Down The Mountain" is refined musically but obtuse lyrically.  An enjoyable listen yet a head scratcher.  "Give It Time" is a pretty little request to not let the small stuff get in the way of a relationship.  This one is well-written and well thought-out, an understated gem.  "Swan Song" sounds like something Sting might have come out with in the early 1990's.  Beautiful yet dark, with a vague Spanish guitar style beneath haunting vocal harmonies.  It's absolutely beautiful.  Hest closes things out with "A Good Look Around", a song about being in over his head but finding the motivation to make it all work out.  It's another gorgeous bit of songwriting that will make you happy you stuck around for the final track.

Ari Hest impresses with Sunset Over Hope Street, showing off an unusual blend of qualities that put the listener instantly at ease.  Hest is a story-teller with the bent of a mystic poet, drawing out each tale impressive imagery and melodicism.  Hest's understated air sometimes comes across as a literati distance, but more often reflects the other-worldly bearing of someone who walks on both sides of the moment.   Sunset Over Hope Street will keep you coming back for more.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Ari Hest at www.arihest.com or www.myspace.com/arihest.  Sunset Over Hope Street is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.  The album is also available via iTunes.