TRACKLISTING
Just Beneath the Chords, Frankie, A Thousand Bees, New York, Old Friends, Seasoned Eyes were Beaming, Animals, Touched, Tell Me How, Fountain
An artist with a truly international flavour, Sara Lov was born in Hawaii, raised in LA and Israel, and has subsequently lived in Italy and London. With an equally international tour schedule, Sara’s forthcoming gig venues are to include Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands and Germany.At times sounding like Heather Nova, other times like Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Sara Lov seems to effortlessly and gracefully glide through each track, consistently delivering a sound that pleases the ears and warms the heart.Sounding to me like acoustic folk/country ballads, predominantly featuring the guitar and piano but employing the use of strings to make up the background sounds, ultimately delivering this unique, robust music.JUST BENEATH THE CHORDS is the opening track and an ideal introduction to this album, and indeed to the sounds of Sara Lov. A definite melody from the guitar and piano, with, at times, a slight warble in the background, creating a somewhat unknown atmosphere around this song, backed up by Sara's ever changing singing and harmonising throughout.FRANKIE and A THOUSAND BEES, with their simple tunes, encourage the listener to listen to the words, which are poetically melancholy but somehow not depressing. The piano is at the centre of both melodies, with percussion included in A THOUSAND BEES, and Sara's beautifully melodious singing the common denominator in both.SEASONED EYES WERE BEAMING, the album's title track, and NEW YORK combine the sounds of the acoustic guitar, beautifully and carefully strummed, and the piano; these sounds the backdrop to the story of NEW YORK poetically delivered by Sara's exquisite voice and singing ability. SEASONED EYES WERE BEAMING is slightly different, in that the verses are sung to the acoustic guitar and piano but the chorus is a change of tune, an increase in tempo, which perfectly compliments the rest of the song.OLD FRIENDS, a Simon and Garfunkle original, written by Paul Simon, is satisfactorily covered by Sara Lov, however I found it a bit too similar to the original, the only difference being that Lov's version is not quite as whimsical.ANIMALS features Dustin O'Halloran, former duet partner to Sara in their band Devics, and this song's co-writer. A beautifully simple, upbeat melody, the two voices harmonising to the music of the acoustic guitar and strings, with Dustin sounding hauntingly like what Bono may have been had he dedicated himself to ballads.TOUCHED – undoubtedly reminiscent of Badly Drawn Boy at the opening bars, but developing into quite a mysterious tune, providing that slight change in musical style – something that in my opinion every music album should incorporate. An odd little tune, it's most prominent sounds being strings, guitar – both strumming and knocking, and what sounds like a triangle.TELL ME HOW and FOUNTAIN return to the piano- and guitar-based ballads of the rest of the album.Sara Lov has incorporated her enviously exquisite voice and singing style into her chosen music genre – acoustic ballads – all the while developing both and taking her music to new levels, never leaving the listener with the feeling that she has mastered her musical art and is happy to go with the flow.
BIOGRAPHY
LINKS
SARA LOV http://www.saralov.com/
Review author: Tamlyn Head
CD: Album
Release date: 17 Mar 2009
Discs: 1
Asin: B001QERPDE
Rating: 8.0
