Charlotte Greve - Lighter Blue (New Amsterdam) [Alt-Pop]
German artist Charlotte Greve, now resident in Brooklyn, is an alto-saxplaying composer and singer with more pseudonyms than a CIA agent, who has been flitting between genre-fluid jazz fusion, ambient and indie-pop-rock projects for the last couple of decades, winning a few awards, and not to mention fans along the way. Well, on her forthcoming Waterbodies album, she's decided to sum up her storied life and creative interests in one album-sized package for New Amsterdam, so open your mind and buckle up your body, it's going to be a ride.
After the jazz-infused alt-pop of "Membranes", which nicely showcased Greve's compositional, vocal and sax abilities in one neat package; the sprawling, ambient, cinematic, neoclassical, vocal-graced delights of "Own Lap"; "Lighter Blue" has an altogether more reflective, intimate singer songwriter vibe as she opines on the therapeutic powers of the creative process. The title is a reference to a colour assigned to her character by a close friend many moons ago, that has acted as a spirit colour throughout her recording career, and I can't help thinking that the mellow yet mantric drums, guitar and bass from Buz Donald, Ryan Dugre and Joshua Crumbly respectively paint a suitably light cerulean backdrop for Greve's soft, serene yet purposeful vocals. It's a genuinely lovely, soothing, mesmerising song, and boding well for the undoubtedly wildy eclectic album delights that will soon be upon us.
If you're as tickled by this album as me, then I'm quite sure you'll get a similar pleasure from Victoria Hume's Radical Abundance LP.
Playlist Companion
Find Greve in the Alt-Pop Playlist.
