MARIA TAYLOR
11:11
Saddle Creek
· What’s in the water at Saddle Creek?
Maria Taylor’s voice will be familiar to anyone with an extensive Bright Eyes catalogue. She’s sung backup on so many Saddle Creek releases that it’s easy to forget that she was once one half of Azure Ray – a heavenly duo best known for its ethereal vocals and delicate arrangements. Her first solo venture is flush with strings, pianos and electronic beats. The songs on 11:11 are probably best suited to soundtrack the television credits of a teen melodrama (her love songs are so sweet, you’d swear they were having an effect on your blood sugar) and the album borders on becoming prom-night hooey on more than one occasion.
To some, the album may come across as overwrought nonsense. Her airy vocals are a tad contrived, her poetry a bit too quaint and her exceptional musical pedigree can be clinical and controlled. However, Taylor takes her personal lyrical references and turns them into universal truths. She excels at capturing her life in brief melodic snapshots and somehow makes those moments count.
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