Joana Serrat:
Dear Great Canyon:
El Segell del Primavera:
CD/LP/DWLD:
April 7th:
★★★★★★★★★☆
Within thirty seconds of listening to Spanish Serrat's breathy vocals, pretty melodies and solid arrangements, I found myself hooked to the opening strains of Flowers on the Hillside. In contrast to the hippy trippy title, young Joana offers up a confident insistence that is sadly lacking these days, all of which bodes well for the rest of this enticing little opus.
Serrat's chops include a few albums under various guises, a double self-titled debut-album and this one, produced by Grammy-nominated Arcade Fire and Godspeed You! Black Emperor producer Howard Bilerman. Dear Great Canyon has a big sound throughout, pitched not too far away from Arcade Fire to be fair, but also Richard Hawley's electrical phase of late and, particularly on Green Grass and So Clear, a bit of Real Estate.
Divided up into a 'Mountain' side and a 'Valley' segment, there's an element of widescreen dramarama with gorgeous pedal steel guitar on the all-too-brief Stop Feelin' Blue and the woozy Mazzy Star-esque Summer On The Beach in the first half and swoonsome strings on the cutesy Cold and a folk-roots jauntiness on The Wanderer - none of which offers up 'mountain' or 'valley' comparisons as far as I'm concerned but are superb nonetheless. Only the closer, Came Out Of The Blue, misses the mark - it's a pretty song but the heavy production, for once, doesn't suit its light jazzy style.
Serrat's home-town Barcelona should be prepared to wave goodbye to its latest talent quite soon - I have a feeling the UK will be staking a claim for this lady's brand of Americana (or should that be Espana) roots and wide-eyed pop. A really serious contender for an album of the year award.
Dear Great Canyon:
El Segell del Primavera:
CD/LP/DWLD:
April 7th:
★★★★★★★★★☆
Serrat's chops include a few albums under various guises, a double self-titled debut-album and this one, produced by Grammy-nominated Arcade Fire and Godspeed You! Black Emperor producer Howard Bilerman. Dear Great Canyon has a big sound throughout, pitched not too far away from Arcade Fire to be fair, but also Richard Hawley's electrical phase of late and, particularly on Green Grass and So Clear, a bit of Real Estate.
Divided up into a 'Mountain' side and a 'Valley' segment, there's an element of widescreen dramarama with gorgeous pedal steel guitar on the all-too-brief Stop Feelin' Blue and the woozy Mazzy Star-esque Summer On The Beach in the first half and swoonsome strings on the cutesy Cold and a folk-roots jauntiness on The Wanderer - none of which offers up 'mountain' or 'valley' comparisons as far as I'm concerned but are superb nonetheless. Only the closer, Came Out Of The Blue, misses the mark - it's a pretty song but the heavy production, for once, doesn't suit its light jazzy style.
Serrat's home-town Barcelona should be prepared to wave goodbye to its latest talent quite soon - I have a feeling the UK will be staking a claim for this lady's brand of Americana (or should that be Espana) roots and wide-eyed pop. A really serious contender for an album of the year award.