Tangents & The Times

The Jam: Dri’s Smoke Rings

Take that feminine voice from The Anniversary. Add Art in Manilla. Bring to the boil with fluid beats. Mix in memories of the tropics. Smooth textured vocal stylings. Add to mix and stir with fringey melodies. Mash up good “girl” lyrics. Bottle up with a pretty face and a true stage presence.

Tastes a Lot Like: Passionfruit Jam- you want to say you’ve tried it before but you never have. And when you do, you love it for it’s surprising consistency and menagerie of unexpected flavors.

A great many bands are discovered when you are not looking for them. Last week I attended a Conor and the Mystic Valley Band concert. I was intrigued by their opening act- a pretty blonde singing passionately behind a keyboard. I stopped her after the show to express my enjoyment and she graciously said thank you and handed me her new full length, Smoke Rings.

Adrienne Verhoeven used to be apart of Vagrant’s The Anniversary. The band broke up for “a number of (undisclosed) reasons” in 2004. Adrienne ran around with Orenda Fink and Neva Dinvoa for awhile before compiling a collection of her own work.

Smoke Rings is a compelling collection in the fact that it is consistent yet exciting. Each song is definitely a part of the entire entity- all have edgy rhythms and heartwarming, layered vocals. The opening track “Two are One” is accented with a number of random beats- such as clinking on glasses- by the third you are taken to India and then suddenly you’re in a 1950′s dreamscape. She has mastered an art of adding influential elements without losing a core sound. Her lyrics go from poignant and heart-breaking to youthful and fun-loving. She’s never the “girly” singer but still touches upon a specific sense of femininity. She ends the album with the title track, a lovely rendition of the 1930′s classic, “Smoke Rings”.

It’s been in my cd player since last Tuesday.
That says something in this day and age of ipods.

Check out Dri on tour with Conor and the Mystic Valley Band.