ShockHound

3 months ago

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  feelGOODmusic purchased Happenstance

6 months ago

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  CaptainCook purchased Elephants

8 months ago

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  ShockHound reviewed Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart 3 of 5

  
  

  It's been too long since we've heard from Rachael Yamagata. Plagued by the nefarious machinations of major labels and managers, Yamagata has had to wait four years to follow up her 2004 debut album, HAPPENSTANCE. Thankfully, the singer has re-emerged with a double album – well, technically, an album and a half – worth of material that makes up for lost time. The two discs that comprise her new release are ELEPHANTS, a nine-song collection that's similar in dark atmospheric tone to HAPPENSTANCE, and TEETH SINKING INTO HEART, a brisk and brusque EP that finds Yamagata in a biting, rockist mood. It's on that five-song appendix that Yamagata gets to spice up her introspection with a little anger. Burly cuts like "Accident" and "Sidedish Friend" are the most immediately engaging, their big, catchy choruses dripping with venom. However, even on more moody numbers like "Pause the Tragic Ending," Yamagata goes for a sparse and direct approach that's more electric than the gauzy, ambient blues on the first disc. That's not to dismiss tunes like "What If I Leave" and "Duet," though. Yamagata is clearly in her element as she breathily whispers her heartfelt lyrics within those numbers' warm, organic arrangements. Woodwinds, strings, slide guitars and various percussion elements are masterfully arranged and produced by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Jenny Lewis), weaving together a comfortable sonic tapestry within which Yamagata's understated voice is an integral element. Yet it's the five songs on TEETH that give fans of Yamagata something to chew on in anticipation of her future work; hopefully, they won't have to wait until 2012 to hear it. — Jason Ferguson