By Delia Paunescu
Adults are tired! Being alert, productive and responsible for ourselves (and sometimes others) leaves us sleep deprived. But an artist has come along who not only rediscovered the very endangered concept of relaxation but actually imposes it through her music.
Rachel Yamagata, who started on the Chicago folk scene during her time at Northwestern, returns with her sophomore album, “Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart.” In an attempt to make something new, artists will foolishly sway so far from the work that brought them recognition in the first place that they alienate fans. But Yamagata appears to have found a sane compromise to the problem that plagues so many sophomore projects by splitting her latest into two parts.
The first, “Elephants,” provides the music that we have come to know and expect from the 30-year-old. Whether or not you are actively aware of Yamagata, there is no doubt you have heard her music. Since it’s release in 2004, several tracks off of her debut album “Happenstance” have been used as soundtrack music in shows and movies from “How I Met Your Mother” and “One Tree Hill” to “The Last Kiss” and “Prime.”
And it’s no wonder. What separated this songwriter from the pack the first time around was her sophistication. Her music was unimposing and her lyrics were tender. It was the genuine and heartfelt nature of the two that kept Yamagata in our minds long after her timid vocals had stopped playing in our ears.
Conjuring notions of claw tubs surrounded in lit, lavender-scented candles, Yamagata’s vocals soothe the modern ears and the over-worked soul. Tracks like “Elephants,” “What If I Leave” and “Sunday Afternoon” are sweet, soft and oh so tender. They make you want to play them on repeat, have a glass of wine and forget you own a Blackberry, if only just for the night.
She whispers her lyrics with a calm that lulls anyone who hasn’t gotten 12 hours of sleep in the last 24 into a paralyzed trance. You can’t move, you can’t blink and your breathing is so slow you’ll think you’re dead. “This is what calm is,” you remember. A helpless fluttering of your now 5-ton eyelashes and you’re out cold for the next two hours. Yamagata’s lovely work continues to play through your much-needed nap as a soundtrack of tranquility.
But 10 tracks in and “Teeth Sinking Into Heart” kicks in. Here, she experiments with a harder sound. The tracks are louder (though compared to a whisper, anything is loud) and “Sidedish Friend” is the perfect example of Yamagata’s new style. Lyrics like “If it’s understood that I don’t want you hanging out with me / But I want you when I call,” are realistic and can be fully appreciated for not trying to sugar-coat the actuality of modern-day relationships. Surf guitar and drums add a welcome change to the mostly piano accompaniment Yamagata usually relies on.
“Teeth” is the alarm clock of reality to “Elephants'” sweet slumber. Now get to napping.
(bigfatgrinningidiot.blogspot.com)
