Dee Dee McNeil, Musical Memoirs Blog
If you are listening for a unique and whispery voice, with a resoundingly original style and the gift of composer skills, may I suggest you take a listen to Emma Frank. She has composed, co-arranged and sung all of the compositions on this production. Beginning with “Magnolia” a song that combines new age, folk and jazz music in a very compatible way. The closest singer I can think of that has similar phrasing and comparable style is Gretchen Parlato. But Emma Frank is very much her own artist. I wish her enunciation of lyrics had been clearer, especially on cut #2. Perhaps this could have been enhanced in the mix. Ms. Frank is very much like an instrument and sometimes gets lost in the production. She often layers her voice in harmonic background, dripping over the arrangements like honey from a cone. Her prose are thought provoking when she sings lines like “… wade through my shadows, weather my storms … making way for new life.” The whispering background voices that Emma Frank overdubs add depth and they help you to remember melodic themes that she produces so richly. Aaron Parks adds much with the tinkling synthesizer bits he feeds into her songs. Also, the dominant guitar of Franky Rousseau brings richness to this project.
I put my headphones on in order not to miss a single word from this poet/wordsmith. I wish she had put the lyrics into the compact disc package so I could read them. “Gradually” is very classically influenced, wrapping around her prose like sparkling Christmas paper. With this song, there is a little bit of a throw-back to the days of Joni Mitchell. Joni’s style is peeking out at me through the unique melody and the dancing range that dips and dives all over the place. Yes – this woman, Emma Frank, is an artist, following her own beaten path and listening to her own drum.
If you are looking for something uniquely different, you will find it in the music of Emma Frank. I cannot categorize it. One minute it’s folk and new age. The next it’s pop and jazz all mish-mashed up together in a hodge-podge of goodness, like grandma’s beef stew crockpot. Take a taste.