Theresa Andersson : Street Parade

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/theresaanderssonstreetparade.jpg" alt="Theresa Andersson : Street Parade" /><br /> Even as she's mastered what she can do, Theresa Andersson has started to grow beyond it. ...
Theresa Andersson : Street Parade
7.3 Basin Street
2012 

Theresa Andersson : Street Parade Gotland-by-way-of-New Orleans singer/songwriter Theresa Andersson is best known not just for that odd geographical journey, but also for her unique and inventive solo ways, recording her own backing tracks and looped notes & percussion, even live (though she’s also worked with the likes of Big East great Allen Toussaint and more).  Andersson did it well on 2008’s Hummingbird, Go! (QRO review), and pushes further on Street Parade – for better & worse.

Despite its title, Street Parade is a largely sad record, like the last parade down a boarded-up block – such as in the title track/opener.  Even with her backing band of herself, Andersson still makes largely stripped-down music, so even a love song like the following "Injun" is more a haunting echo of a love song.  There are a few up-note pieces like the jazzier "Flya’s Gone" or the sweet woodwinds of the subsequent "Sleepsong For Saoirse", but then the jazz gets darker and sultrier on "Endymion", and the sweetness gets a touch of loss on "January".

Andersson does push her style of music making on Parade, but the results outside of her wheelhouse aren’t as strong.  "Listen To My Heels" puts too much tech in the strip, and ends up feeling like the remix of a Theresa Andersson song.  "What Comes Next" verges on Scandinavian songstress – think Lykke Li (QRO album review), El Perro Del Mar (QRO live review), Taken by Trees (QRO album review), etc.; that’s probably because "Next" features Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn and John (QRO spotlight on), for whom all those ladies have guest-sung.

Parade ends with the stripped to a-cappella and tones "Plucks", whose limited nature shows how much Andersson has grown (if also being the weakest song on the album).  Even as she’s mastered what she can do, Theresa Andersson has started to grow beyond it.

MP3 Stream: "Injuns"

{audio}/mp3/files/Theresa Andersson – Injuns.mp3{/audio}

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