Cool Dry Place

A singer/songwriter raised in Spicewood, Texas, near Austin, Katy Kirby began working on her first album as a college student in Nashville. Several years in the making and recorded partly in Nashville and partly in her hometown, the nine-track Cool Dry Place sets insightful vignettes against a balance of spare and mostly crisp, playful arrangements performed by over a half-dozen contributors. One of the more textured tracks, Traffic! opens with syncopated electric guitar, bass, and soft, steady bass drum under Kirbys warm, lucid vocals. The song becomes more off-balance, occasionally dropping in vocal effects and light guitar distortion, alongside a loping melody and additional groove-based syncopation as the singer deconstructs a partners privilege (So fundamentally toxic....You get off easy every time). At one point, overdriven guitar clashes with a synthesized church organ and choir; the rock combo eventually overpowers the rest. With a sharp focus on vocal lines throughout, likewise buoyant offerings include the lightly lopsided Peppermint and gardening metaphor Juniper, while among the albums bittersweet ballads are the hushed Portals (Im an alternate universe in Target lingerie/Youre a country song in three-four time) and the title track. The comfort-seeking Cool Dry Place begins as a tender, head-swaying tune before crescendoing into a swirl of feedback, distortion, and sound effects held together by an arpeggiated synth line. Throughout, the star of the debut remains Kirbys inviting voice and hummable melodies, and, at less than 30 minutes, Cool Dry Place will leave many fans of the singer/songwriter tradition eager for more. ~ Marcy Donelson

テキサス出身の新人SSW=Katy Kirbyのデビュー作を聴いたとき、今年のインディーフォーク・シーンも面白いものになると確信した。幼少期は町の教会の聖歌隊の一員として歌っていたことがある。そんな彼女の歌声は小鳥のさえずりのようにフォーキーで優しく、寄り添うようなアコースティックギターとの音色に思わずキュンとしてしまう。一方で『Cool Dry Place』はMitskiやJulien Bakerのように激情的にギターを掻き鳴らす部分には、90年代のオルタナ・ロックアーティストを彷彿とさせる。この塩梅の良さが堪らなく、彼女の持つ音楽のバリエーションに今後も楽しみだ。全てのインディーファンに是非手に取ってもらいたい一枚だ。
intoxicate (C)石田真生