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Reviews

Emily Bezar — Out of the Moment
(Bandcamp no#, 2019, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2019-04-26

Out of the Moment Cover art

If you come to Out of the Moment as a listener unfamiliar with Emily Bezar’s music, I can only try to imagine what you might think. “The Longest Way” starts out with a really interesting synthesizer that almost sounds like it’s been reversed and has an unusual tone — definitely doesn’t sound like a stock preset on a keyboard. A brief drum fill leads into a medium tempo with bass, guitar, and piano all playing parts that fit together as individuals rather than just playing chords like you normally hear. Then an electric piano joins in and her voice comes in singing a melody full of unusual intervals, with perfect vibrato and good enunciation. You would be right to think this sounds like a trained voice, but it’s taken to places opera singers don’t go. There are choruses of background singers, and you might think of Kate Bush. The lyrics are clever and full of imagery: “Take the longest way around the mountain, there’s no shame in passing up the climb.” The backing musicians sound like they’re familiar with both jazz and progressive rock, and navigate the song’s complex harmonic structure with natural ease. Other songs on the album bring in other factors, such as acoustic guitar, electronic percussion, and a pleasing variety of tempos. Her robust singing is a far cry from the cutesy voices so popular with pop singers lately. It’s been quite a while since we’ve heard any new music from Emily Bezar — 2011 to be precise. Out of the Moment features all the things I’ve always loved about her music, with an appealing mixture of rock, jazz, classical, and electronic sounds and an amazing voice. In some ways, Bezar’s music could be regarded as an alternate path Kate Bush could have taken after Never for Ever, continuing the complex interplay between musicians rather than stripping down to primal rhythms. Out of the Moment creates a world that just draws me in with comforting sounds that are never sappy in spite of their beauty. It pleases me greatly to report that Emily Bezar’s newest album is every bit as good as anything she’s ever recorded, and certainly one of the highlights of the year so far.

Filed under: New releases, 2019 releases

Related artist(s): Emily Bezar

More info
http://emilybezar.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-the-moment

 

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