Sinking into Sóley

I like to think I have a varied taste in music. A quick spin through my Ipod will reveal anything from Arcade Fire, Brazilian Girls, Cat Stevens, Charlie Parker, DeVotchka, Doves, Elliott Smith, Fluke, Frightened Rabbit, Goldfrapp, the Heavy, Hey Rosetta, Interpol, Iron & Wine, Jagwar Ma, Jesca Hoop, Kate Bush, LCD Sound System, Lemon Jelly, Massive Attack, Marilyn Manson, The National and Nine Inch Nails to Oreanda Fink, Patrick Watson, Pickwick, Portishead, Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead, Ray La Montagne, Stellastarr, Sufjan Stevens, Thelonious Monk, Tricky, TV on the Radio, Underworld, Unkle, Vivaldi, We are Augustines, Wilco, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and finally, Zero 7. Not to mention a lot of other great artists in-between.

Mainstream radio in Vancouver is utterly diabolical! You're unlikely to hear any of the above artists let alone be introduced to any new ones. Instead you'll find yourself brainwashed into total moronification by an endless, nauseating loop of absolute sh*te from a handful of dreadful bands, repeated over and over and over and over and over and........

Thankfully, since first dating Lorne in 2001, I was also introduced to KEXP.org - a fantastic non-commercial radio station out of Seattle and I have KEXP* (and their fabulous morning host, John Richards) to thank wholeheartedly for not only helping us to develop such a ridiculously bloated music library, but for the abundance of fantastic bands we've seen play live - bands we might never have heard of otherwise - of which I would highly recommend Arcade Fire and DeVotchka for putting on a truly oustanding live performance.

But, to get back to the original point of this post, while my music library is fairly diverse (and amen to iPod for saving me the weight of lugging a million cassettes/CDs around) I am nevertheless embarrassingly inept at venturing to describe musicians, music styles or anything musical really so, other than listing What's New On My Ipod I've never gone into detail here. However, since discovering a new singer-songwriter lately, one I'd never even heard of, I decided I might just give it a try.

T'would appear I'm arriving somewhat late to the party on this one, but I recently discovered the rather enchanting album, 'We Sink' (which actually came out in 2011) by the artist, Sóley.

Sóley is a young, icelandic singer-songwriter, normally associated with the band Seabear (who I'll also have to look up now) and We Sink is apparently her first full solo album, following on from the release of her 2010 debut EP, Theatre Island (also on my list). I can only hope I'm doing Sóley justice in describing her as a captivating and unique, poetic, indie-folk artist.

We Sink is a hypnotic dreamscape that glides gracefully between whimsy, melancholy, the supernatural and child-like bewilderment. Singing in little more than a delicate whisper, Sóley's intriguing lyrics seem to roam the desolate hallways of an abandoned house, sprinkled with eerie and nostalgic echoes of old toys, broken music-boxes, erratic wind chimes and simple piano notes. The overall quirkiness of this album is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland meets Great Expectations.

I'll have to listen a little more to determine which song might be a favourite. For now I'm enjoying the wistful, ethereal undertones of the album's entirety as it wavers between dream, memory and nightmare. Kill the Clown is a particularly disturbing, yet strangely alluring song - not least because I've always hated clowns! Hmmm, perhaps not one for bedtime listening.


Well, that's my humble opinion anyway and hopefully I'm not completely off the mark with my first (somewhat minimalist) attempt at a review.

I'm already looking forward to the next journey with Sóley. I doubt she'll disappoint.

*Incidentally, if you tune into KEXP.org this week, please don't be put off by the fact they're doing one of their twice yearly membership drives, being a public-funded, non-commercial radio station 'n' all. (It finishes this Friday.) We've been appreciative members for more than 10 years - especially after all the amazing music and live acts we've been introduced to through them. Believe me, they really are worth supporting!