Dayna Kurtz –
Another Black Feather (… for the Wings of a Sinner)Dayna Kurtz is a surprisingly overlooked musician. Nearly a month after the release of her la-*test*-('") album, Amazon and many other music sites remains devoid of user reviews. As even the more musically aware person about her and you’ll likely be greeted by a blank stare. Yet, Kurtz incredible music and singing abilities are deserving of fame. As one professional reviewer remarked of her past studio albums, original work
Postcards from Downtown and cover album
Beautiful Yesterday, ‘it’s a mystery why Kurtz is not a superstar.’ Her music is a wonderfully eclectic mix of styles from seemingly country influence to Tom Waits-ian and her voice has incredible range, capable of making better known singers such as Diana Krall sound downright monotone by comparison. Her voice is not ‘angelic’ as is that of the other favorites, but has an included coarseness representative of the hardness of life making her vocal sound seem an odd blend of Eva Cassidy and Nina Simone.
In the time since her last albums, Kurtz has subsequently found some success, at least with regards to relationships, and is now happily married. As a result,
Another Black Feather is more uplifting and less embittered than her other endeavors, but it is still nowhere near some Thomas Kincaidian type idealistic music as is more popular. This album maintains the rougher, worn edges of Kurtz previous works and embodies an unusual balance of scarcity with clutter.
The sound and the lyrics hint at an introspective journey accomplished in solitude in a desolate environment. Yet, they also tell of something else. I’m currently doing my fourth listen through this album and each time notice a different flavor of music and what I exactly mean refuses to be readily pinned down. The best I can make of it is in combination of the music with the album art – it is the theme song for a country second hand store. There you’ll find an odd collection of worn, broken, weathered, and abandoned items that each at a glance will give the impression of many stories of living, both good and bad. The imagery, the lyrics, and the music reinforce this notion. For the latter, there is a thread of discordant or broken music that flows through each song just at the edge of perception. Notes aren’t played at perfect timing and the singing too equals the edge of the voice in its timing. The recording of Kurtz’s voice is often modified slightly such that it sounds as though it could be coming from a ratty old radio. The primary instrument Kurtz plays for this album, a steel guitar, only builds on this mood at times simulating an enriched variant of a worn out music box that no longer plays perfectly.
Recording quality is very good without the obvious presence of overproduction as too many albums possess as of late. The modifications of the vocal track make for an amplified sound, but this contributes to the overall mood of the music. This album would sound fantastic on vinyl, being that it is minimally edited and recorded in analog, but until Kurtz becomes famous, this is unlikely to happen.
My apologies if this doesn’t make sense, but it is the best I can equate emotion to word. I highly recommend this album to anyone interested in trying out some new female vocals.
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