Just because a girl has an acoustic guitar and a nice voice doesn’t mean her music is already wrote. When Janis Ian and Joan Baez all but cornered the market on female songwriters/politicos, along came Ani DiFranco with a fiercely original take on musical protest. And although Chan Marshall and Leslie Feist are some of the reigning indie-folk songstresses breaking hearts with their guitars, there’s still room for a few more ingénues. With that in mind, we’d like direct your attention to a girl from Ann Arbor named Jetty Rae. Vocally, Rae is a combination of ether and soul—singing whimsical songs that pack an emotional punch. As she weaves violins and keyboards into her arrangements, keeping her melodies light, sweet and unpredictable—see the undulating refrains of “I Love You”— she proves she’s got meat on her acoustic bones. Rae is in the midst of recording her new album Nobody. With a knack for sophisticated song craft and a comely set of pipes, this is one nobody who’s poised to make a lasting impression.
There are two ways to deal with a Magic Man. If you’re Heart, you run away with him beg your mama to “try to understand.” If you’re Amy Crawford & The Electric, you temper your emotions with a healthy dose of skepticism.
The songwriter lays down the law with a spry piano melody and fool-me-not lyrics on her song, “Magic Man”: “Don’t tell me you’ll do the best you can / You’re wasting your time unless you’re a magic man.” It’s infectious and effervescent piano pop with vintage textures à la The Beach Boys, only fronted by a clever girl with a lot more serotonin in her system. On her self-titled debut, Crawford and her band—The Electric—dole out a collection of upbeat gems that fall somewhere between Mates of State after a nap and Feist after a couple of sodas. Crawford’s comely vocals and nimbleness on the ivories make for some bewitching listening. In other words, it’s magic.
Published by
internjosh on
September 15, 2008 in
Artist News.
Tags: (a mind taken apart), ben godwin, bon iver, cabin song, chairlift, clarke!, dapunksportif, drinking gasoline, feist, i can't move, iPod, music video, skinny love, t. nile, take away show, the victim.
- Ben Godwin, takes us on a booze-soaked, vaudevillian, exploration of the seedy back alleys of New York City’s steamy underbelly, with Drinking Gasoline.
