With Sarah, it certainly feels like the former. She prides herself on not having many barriers in her music, prides herself in singing truth and nothing else. Define it what you will, she says, but within all definitions remember that she sings what comes naturally, and has come naturally to her ever since she was very young. I’ve found that when life experiences and natural talent combine it results in a voice that sounds sweeter, a medley that accentuates with more finnese, and a message that delivers with pointed accuracy.
When it comes to the music, it meets the expectations above, but I have to make one thing clear before I continue. This album is a grower, in its entirety. I found that from the first track to the end, it got progressively better, and listening to the album on loop the first track sounded better than it did the first time around. My initial feeling was that this CD wasnt for me, but it grew on me, and fast.
Sarah Jaffe is a singer-songwriter and Suburban Nature easily falls into the indie/folk category, but it was a lighter, less charistmatic branch that I’ve never felt at home listening to. It’s a testemant, then, to just how good Jaffe’s voice is and how…. inrtuiging it ends up being in the end. I will usually recommend things “to fans of the genre” but in this case, I wasn’t, and I enjoyed it. So what then?
Well I’ll talk a little bit more about specific tracks. I believe the biggest flaw with Suburban Nature is how it begins. The opening track seems completely out of place, and is the only of the 14 tracks that I can say I wouldn’t recommend. But it’s not a blight on the album itself, it’s just generally important for say, people who don’t research and read reviews to be hooked by the opening track. I assure you it’s nothing but better from here on.
“Clementine” is a track to listen to if you’re wondering whether or not you’ll like the album. It’s got some pace to it, and Sarah’s voice is accompanied by a nice musical line to go along, something that not every track on the album has. By this I mean, it’s very obviously her voice holding it all together throughout the album, the highlight of each track.
It’s not a bad thing, her voice is fantastic and moving, and I’ve mentioned it several times thusfar and hope that you take note of the fact when I say I have to wonder about the composition on some levels. A few of the tracks such as “Pretender”, “Stay WIth Me”, and “Wreaking Havoc” seem almost incomplete at times.
But for every one of those tracks, you have one like “Vulernable” and one like “Swelling”, which feel exactly what Sarah hopes them to be. They are emotional, they hook you and convey feelings with ease, and both are carried solely on the brunt of Sarah’s soft voice. The instrumentals are second fiddle throughout the album, and on some tracks it’s not so good while on others it wouldn’t work any other way and is fantastic.
“Vulnerable” and “Watch Me Fall Apart” are my favorite tracks on the album. They’re simple tracks, with a simple message that may or may not be cliche to you. It was to me, but that didn’t matter one bit, I sat back, I bobbed my head along slowly and enjoyed every second.
To summarize, Suburban Nature is an album I was able to get behind with just a short bit of patience and an open mind. Fans of hers will be absolutely ecstatic with, what would be a perfect album to them. Fans of the genre would do well to pick this up and give it a few listens. She is a great talent, and in making music that speaks to her, makes music that speaks to everyone. is probably a buy for those of you already familiar with Sarah Jaffe, and something you should check out either way if you are a fan of the more subdued indie and folk music.
