| This Week's Highlights |
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analysis w/e 14.5.11 |
DVDs out 9.5.11 |
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@ DVDfever Youtube |
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May 11 2011 
DVDfever co uk
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Dreamy reflective ballads from LA. Where else? Having been to California this year, I can somehow relate to what makes LA musicians tick – it’s the weather and laid-back life style. I can smell the whiff of Venice Beach all over this seriously cool album. “Simple and sad with a shot of scotch,” is how ex-Devics singer-songwriter Lov describes her latest LP. It’s not a happy album by any means, but not depressing enough to switch off. Awash with honeyed vocals and melodies, this is a beguiling and haunting album guaranteed to soothe you at every level with each song effortlessly drifting into each other, seamlessly, even the reworking of Paul Simon’s Old Friends.
Lov’s knack of pulling you in is due to a combination of bitter sweet ditties that will appeal across all ranges. Basically, Lov sees what was an ideal life or world through (mature) ‘seasoned eyes’ which sort of takes the shine off the innocent eyes she once saw her world. This is probably best exampled on deliciously forlorn New York. It’s that sense of revisiting the past, and a sign of not totally letting go, but also growing up. And wishing, of course. Her gentle presentation harks back to the Summer of Love in ’67, not too hippy-like, but with a modern twist, starting with swaying Just Beneath The Chords. This could be a classic Cilla Black ballad from the early 60s. She drops to an even slower pace and touch for Frankie with touch-lite drums and plodding piano. Animals is a lament about a broken relationship, beautifully done as a duet: the counterplay is fascinating, along the lines that Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan successfully combined on, and the hurt is even more palpable on Tell Me How. The melancholic cello on Touched also brings back shades of Rice’s shoe-gazing album ‘O’.
Lov is emerging as a young lady, though there’s a child-like quality to her singing, which is both reassuring and comfortable, enough to make you relax at the drop of a hat. Best track? A Thousand Bees, as she looks back via memorabilia: “Photographs, beautiful photographs, echo back, can take it back, “ which sums up the album to perfection, in just one line. The verdict – Yes sad, but gorgeous too.
Weblink: saralov.com
The full list of tracks included are :
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier. PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
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Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
