One of the true pleasures of listening to music is the element of discovery. A little less now that I've pulled back from music blogging, but when you get into the scene a bit, names will just jump out at you. Over the past couple of weeks, I've been listening to Gregory Douglass's latest album, Battler, and just saw him at the Higher Ground with a couple of Vermont singers.
Singing along with him for the entire evening, however, was Lisa Piccirillo, who is a strong singer/songwriter in her own right - she's just released her first album, Momentum, which was on sale during the concert, and which I picked up via iTunes.
Listening to Piccirillo, several artists came to mind right away - Sara Wheeler and Jess Clemons, to start, which bodes extremely well for this new artist. There's the overt elements here - soft, gentle guitar work, a carefree sound and lyrics that are evocative and poetic in their own right. Wheeler and Clemons both did this with their songs, and Piccirillo seems to fall in the same vein. She doesn't sound exactly the same, but she has her own, very strong voice and sense of direction. This was certainly demonstrated while on stage with Douglass, where she really held her own, but provided an essential element of flavor to Battler, and listening back over that album, she was just as vital for some songs.
The sound here is certainly nothing new by any standards, but oftentimes, I'm not looking for something completely new and revolutionary - there is a reason why I really like this sound - it makes me feel relaxed and at peace, and Lisa has summed up this sound fantastically with this album. There isn't a track that doesn't sound brilliant, and it has a feel like this is a labor of love, not something that has been over-thought and over mastered, but rather, honest. It's a great reminder that not all independent artists are out to make a name for themselves by doing something ridiculous and over the top, but because they love to sing, and that's what we seem to have here. Momentum is a fantastic album, and Lisa Piccirillo is an artist to keep an eye out for.
Momentum - Lisa Piccirillo
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