Search - Amelia :: Somewhere Left To Fall

Amelia will haunt you.

Tanya L. Crenshaw | Urbana, IL USA | 03/27/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Portland is a beautiful city, but at a cost. Rain falls there 10 months out of the year, keeping the entire city alive with green under a cloudy overcast. Amelia, yet another wonderful band from this city, has a sound which doesn't deny its Portland roots. Many of the songs on this album share the same kind of somber beauty of its city. Teisha's low voice seems to glide over the songs like raindrops over fallen leaves. Each song on this album has its own personality, with guest musicians playing instruments ranging from the accordian to the glockenspiel. But, all will haunt you with a spirited sadness that could come only from the Pacific NW."

Insidious

Yet another old guy | Phoenix, Arizona | 06/23/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"... adjective; 2a : having a gradual and cumulative effect.



Amelia makes such subtle music. On the first listen it sounds pleasant enough, but doesn't jump out and grab you by your shirt and shake you like some monsterous rock hit. Instead it sneaks up on you when you aren't looking.



These are mostly down-tempo songs, which means stretched out. What you didn't notice, perhaps, at first, is that the instrumentation is dead-on rock-solid and everything is there that needs to be there. At first Teisha's vocals sound gentle, easy on your ears, but then you begin to notice the phrasing complements the timing of the music and that there are subtle hooks in there.



It's hard for me to express how surprised I am that I like this style of music. I've been into European electronic/techno music, after having burned out on vintage Led Zeppelin, Ramones, New Order, Wire, Tangerine Dream, Depeche Mode, onward through Enigma, Delerium, Jaurim (Korean band), Banco de Gaia, etc. Amelia sounds nothing like these bands, except perhaps some of the moods of certain New Order songs.



How did I connect into Amelia's music? I got addicted to one of their songs available on the Seattle radio station KEXP. The live recordings section has an interview with Amelia and four songs. I was almost immediately hooked by the song "False Start". About five listens later I found I was hooked even more on the song "Stranded". Apparently Amazon doesn't like web links in reviews, so you'll have to find kexp dot org yourself. Since Amazon didn't bother to host sound clips, I highly recommend you give the performance a listen, and repeat five times to let the hooks sink in.



Another reviewer describes Amelia's songs as sad. Some of them are sad, but I think a better description is studiously restrained. I can imagine standing on a porch on some old house in the country watching the sunset over the hills with Amelia's music wafting out the door. It calms you down like a back-rub.



Why 4 stars? I like it enough to play it over and over, and enough to buy the second album. But I believe they will grow, and I'd like to hear a bit less restraint sometime."