Erin McKeown - 'Grand' (Nettwerk America)
3/5
By: Toby L
Trading in the charm is notably McKeown's most favourable endeavour. No matter the up-tempo, bassy crossover-pop, or jazzy looseness, Erin blends smart swiftness with bracing, full instrumental set-ups. But occasionally suffers from the gratuitousness of proving tenuously sporadic.
Whereas lower-fi, debut-LP demonstrated a refined, stripped-back edge, 'Grand' is just that - far-reaching, encompassing, yet lacking subtlety. Confidence is provided here in spades - McKeown's voice sung by someone with a permanently etched smile, a Ricky Lee Jones in multi-faceted mode. Though, where's the soul...?
We find ourselves confronted with a performance-machine, little harmony, but max. ability, and too many ideas in need of honing. So, just what is this - ringing brass via 'The Taste of You'; merry pop in 'Slung-Lo'; and touches of indie in the fast-paced 'Cinematic' and 'Civilians' (an LP-standout), seemingly: i.e. a melting-pot of influences with little definition.
When the guitars are dropped and piano tinkered with - in an Aqualung sombreness - 'Envelopes of Glassine' is both soulful and country-dosed, introspective and sweet. And it's this intimate edge we need more of - a showcase of that gliding, full voice and starker arrangements, free of an intrusive chipperness. 'An Innocent Fiction' in its Beach Boys organs, works, as does the pretty, melodious 'Starlit', though the closure of play may well result in a hollowness of constraint - ideas ambitiously embarked upon, with only an arguable, 50% success-rate.
But for an artist so young (25 years old), so accomplished (this is her sophomore effort after a critically acclaimed entrance in 2000), to herald the future bleak would be a restrictive, inaccurate and portentous quip. A few tweaks and edits here and there, and Erin McKeown could be a widely-embraced treasure.
Artists in this article: Erin McKeown
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