Artist: Tracy Bonham
Album: Masts of Manhatta
Record Label: Lojinx
Rating: 3.5 stars
Since her first album in 1996, Tracy Bonham has been delivering fine alternative pop while maintaining an artistic difference from legends she one wrote songs for. Masts of Manhatta is her fourth album, five years in the works and definitely worth the wait. Bonham’s songwriting and her skills on the violin are no surprise to anyone, but this particular album shows a kind of light hearted maturity that makes it a lot more endearing than her previous records. The record shows a deviation from norm, and from 2005’s haunting Blink the Brightest, in the cleverly defiant song structures and skilful arrangements. Beck’s ex guitarist Smokey Hormel delivers an interesting counter to her otherwise jazz roots creating a delightful urban-rural sound bridge in her music. It is exactly this that she put on the table with what is arguably one of the highlight of the album – We Moved Our City To The Country, a satire on the young fleeing to the cities in search of a faux hip factor. Songs like Big Red Heart make the Beck influence apparent with the angular guitar work in combination with Bonham’s violin. Moonlight and Angel and Won’t You Come Down are perfectly examples of what the record has to offer – wry, witty lyrics combined with an effortlessly bouncy sound.
Album: Masts of Manhatta
Record Label: Lojinx
Rating: 3.5 stars
Since her first album in 1996, Tracy Bonham has been delivering fine alternative pop while maintaining an artistic difference from legends she one wrote songs for. Masts of Manhatta is her fourth album, five years in the works and definitely worth the wait. Bonham’s songwriting and her skills on the violin are no surprise to anyone, but this particular album shows a kind of light hearted maturity that makes it a lot more endearing than her previous records. The record shows a deviation from norm, and from 2005’s haunting Blink the Brightest, in the cleverly defiant song structures and skilful arrangements. Beck’s ex guitarist Smokey Hormel delivers an interesting counter to her otherwise jazz roots creating a delightful urban-rural sound bridge in her music. It is exactly this that she put on the table with what is arguably one of the highlight of the album – We Moved Our City To The Country, a satire on the young fleeing to the cities in search of a faux hip factor. Songs like Big Red Heart make the Beck influence apparent with the angular guitar work in combination with Bonham’s violin. Moonlight and Angel and Won’t You Come Down are perfectly examples of what the record has to offer – wry, witty lyrics combined with an effortlessly bouncy sound.
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