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COME ACROSS THE RIVER
(Sonic Boom)
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In 1999, Heather Duby debuted with Post to Wire (Sub Pop), a collection of intimate, uncontrived ruminations on love and loss set to autumnal trip-pop arrangements co-written and produced by Pacific Northwest über–knob twiddler Steve Fisk. There was, however, on that CD a vague sense that the Seattle songstress’s vocals didn’t always work in tandem with the synth-based atmospherics — that she was singing over the songs rather than within them. Come Across the River suffers from no such problems. On each of these 10 tracks, Duby’s rich and resonant voice (which compares favorably with those of Sarah McLachlan, Beth Orton, and Tracey Thorn) is more fully entwined with the instrumentation, which eschews electronic gauze for organic piano, cello, live-sounding drums, and guitar. And the dark edge she hinted at on Post to Wire is more fully developed here. "Make Me Some Insomnia" explores human frailty with the aid of the melancholy bowing of cellist Lori Goldston, as Duby sings wearily, "To rely on anyone is just like sinking for the fun of it." Cynical gloom also flavors the goth ballad "Stamped Out," and it reaches a peak in "The Rare Vavoom," a cabaret noir replete with brushed drums and muted trumpet that paints a nocturnal image of Duby staring forlornly out the rain-tapped window of a barren room.
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