I’m off to the great foggy north. My long time friend, Dayle, is done with the single life (remember this?) and is getting married. For some strange reason, she’s asked me to spin some tunes. It’s the last major event (not counting the upcoming apartment hunt) I’ve got on my plate before my life pulls itself into some semblance of predictability.
And speaking of predictable (you’re welcome for the marvelous segue) that’s something that the first listen through 59.59, the debut album by Sian Alice Group just plain isn’t. SAG is Rupert Clervaux and Ben Crook, a progressive-minded duo that had the good sense to bring vocalist Sian Ahern into the fold. Adding a few more musicians turned them into a “group” in the proper sense of the word. The album is a disarming collection of tunes that flow from one to the next yet manage to stand out from one another in a way that’s adventurous and, well, unpredictable.
It’s tough to find a representative track on 59.59, but “Murder” does a good job of hinting at the album’s overall mood. The piano is front and center at first, but true to their process, the other musicians sneak in, one by one until Sian’s vocals step in and wrap themselves in the warm musical tones her bandmates have just spun. Check it out. I’d be curious to know what you think. The whole album is worth picking up, so get thee to a music shoppe. I’ll check in with you when I get back from the Beast (read “East Bay.”)
on the Web: allmusic, myspace, pitchfork (7.7), itunes, amazon
