Search - Tara Angell :: Come Down

Best album of the year...

Zac Black | Australia | 03/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tara Angell's Come Down is simultaneously an immediate and timeless album. Each track's first spin is received like a fine dish that heightens all the senses and leaves you wanting more. And with time, listening to Come Down is like dipping into a vintage drop that's only getting better with the years.

Lyrically and in delivery there's an obvious sadness that pervades this album. Whether it be from heartbreak or loss, the water from Angell's well is coming from a dark place. It's a taste we all know. But this is anything but a miserable experience. Rather, Joseph Arthur's production lifts everything up into a sphere of hope and positivity. These contrasting emotions are melded to perfection from start to finish.

Tara Angell's voice has received comparisons to Marianne Faithfull and Lucinda Williams and while these artists may be inspirations in sound and spirit, Angell has in fact created a sound that transcends any influences. There's something so raw and true going on here that the before mentioned artists would no doubt feel privileged to have Tara compared to them.

Of the twelve tracks on Come Down pretty much all of them are top shelf. Opener Untrue is a slowly reverberating wave of numbed-out pop that sets a scene that could go anywhere. Hollow Hope kicks in with an upbeat rocking groove and a chorus as catchy as a ball skied deep into the outfield. Uneven is the album's masterpiece though. Amongst backwards guitars and tastefully lush backing vocals, Angell's delivery is a song within a song. Closer, The Big One is equally beautiful and restrained. Like the album as a whole, nothing is overplayed and there's enough air left to breathe throughout.

It may only be March but Come Down is hands down the album of the year so far and Uneven can wear the crown (or tiara) of best track. If there's any sense or justice in the music world, Tara Angell and Come Down will be received like saviours by all those who care about music.

"

Why did we have to wait so long?

Sharyn rodas | hackensack, nj | 03/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"tara angell is the best new artist i've heard this year. her voice is remarkable, her songs are haunting; dark and lovely at the same time. remember her name, we are going to hear it again and again."

Faithfully, gothy, alt-somethingy with nice slow grooves

Sanpete | in Utah | 05/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You know an album is down low when the upbeat number is "Bitc* Please," a song with the sunny disposition of a Velvet Underground ballad, only more laid back. But really, it is a fun song in its way, with a convivial conversation in the background, as though at a party, opening with a guitar that seems to be paraphrasing, in a subtle, quiet way, The Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb," and sporting a taunting lyric with pretty, Stones-ish harmonies. Like all the songs, the lyric is pared to a few words, the melody to a few notes. Like most of the songs, it's impossible to tell just what it's about, but it effectively conveys some basic feelings and ideas.



Angell has said the title of the album came from a remark producer Joseph Arthur made, that it would be good music to come down with. He was undoubtedly thinking of pharmaceuticals, but it's an apt name in the broader sense that the music has a strong undertow that pulls you down and makes it feel very good.



It's hard to avoid calling the album dark, but it isn't grim in quite the way some of its apparent influences have been. It's more down than caustic and bitter. Angell lived in a depressed New York neighborhood with junkies and suffered from depression herself, but she's managed to keep enough perspective and power to avoid the worst. "You left me strong, Big enough to pick up the world," she sings ("Don't Blame Me"). I'm sure she's felt lost, and probably still does in some ways, but she's determined, enough. The songs may be considered confessional but, despite what some reviewers have said, not quite in the seemingly naked way those of some others have been. She's keeping plenty to herself. And, she says, she does use her imagination.



The vocals do sometimes sound like unmannered Marianne Faithful, very pleasingly so. I hear less Lucinda Williams than others seem to, but I can see why people mention her too. Besides the Velvet Underground, textures of Neil Young can be heard, and in a couple spots I'm reminded of a mellowed Nirvana (particularly "Hollow Hope" and "Uneven"). A good share of this is due to producer Arthur, who plays guitar and bass and sings and adds the low rumbles and other sounds that help make the album distinctive. A lot of this album happens in the bass clef. Teamed with Angell's distinctive voice and songs, it adds up to more than the sum of its influences. It's old and new.



While there is a distinct unity to the album, and the songs tend to be simple melodically, each song has its own character. And they're all appealing, with catchy hooks.



Some of the virtues of the album probably come from the fact that it was recorded in just a few days, out of necessity. Angell reportedly took out a $10,000 loan to pay for it, so there was no time to waste. The intensity of the effort and tight schedule no doubt added to the creative edge and unity of the project.



I'm surprised this album didn't catch on more. It's good.



*Amazon won't accept the full name of the song in my review, even though it's printed bold as day in their track listing and their own review."