Monday 22 November 2010
Busy bee
Early in 2009 I got a copy of the self-titled LP from Halifax’s Ruby Jean & the Thoughtful Bees, “a motley assortment of Halifax indie-rock ne’er-do-wells” whose female-fronted MSTRKRFT-like electro-dance beats featured the vibrant and bold voice of Rebekah Higgs. After spending the better part of the year backing that album, Higgs is set to return with a sophomore solo LP early in the new year, preceded by a four-song EP called Little Voice.
The beats and blips take a back seat, but there’s still quirkiness aplenty on these songs, produced by Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse, Califone), and you’ll find yourself tempted to get up a bust a move to a couple tracks (like the delicately beautiful pop of “Asleep All Winter” and guitar heavy riffing of “Drunk Love”). Chartattack’s compared her songwriting and guitar playing abilities to Feist, but not just because she’s a a she; Higgs is a thoughtful lyricist, a keen observer of the trials and tribulations of love and life, and unafraid to push her songs into adventurous, experimental territories. I think a more appropriate comparison would be to Julie Fader, as the two seem to both have a shared sense of how to build captivating compositions with layers and layers woven together.
As an introduction to the coming new album, Little Voice does a fantastic job of teasing and building anticipation. I was starting to think that 2011 would be a slow going year for new music, but Rebekah Higgs looks set to be a big voice in the coming months.
Little Voice is released independently, and available tomorrow, November 23, but you can get a digital copy from Higgs’ Bandcamp page right now.
MP3: Rebekah Higgs “Little Voice”
Myspace: Rebekah Higgs
Facebook: Rebekah Higgs
Twitter: Rebekah Higgs
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This entry was posted on Monday, November 22nd, 2010 at 8:35 am and is filed under MP3. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Austra
