this album sends shivers up my spine.
this artist really deserves promotion and i wish she had her own website. this album sends shivers up my spine. full of such beautiful and rich harmonies and melancholic ballads. the musicianship is fantastic - great great guitar work. the album is mostly just vocal and sparse accompaniment with guitar ( lots of tunes in minor keys, lot's open string and harmonics use) or piano. and beautiful voice reminscent of joni mitchell, sarah maclachlan, rickie lee jones, carly simon. if you like these artists, along with others like tori amos, and of course many of the other lilith fair crowd, you will like this album. if at all you can find samples of her work to download, do it, and you will be convinced this is definitely an album worth having, and an artist with great potential.
Beth Arrives
I first heard Beth Hirsch on Air's great album Moon Safari. The thought intrigued me - how would she sound on her own album? She doesn't disappoint!Hirsch's new album "Early Days" is an acoustically romantic joyride. The singer/songwriter's vocals have just enough simpatico and vulnerability to give the impression of a happy tomorrow.
A cross between Joni Mitchell and Beth Orton - she is my generations' Tori Amos.
"Life is Mine" could easily become my new anthem. "Somebody Dandy" reminds me of the feeling of my first love. "Silent Song" gives an insight of the lonely mood of being by myself.
If you are expecting the romp of modern day music - forget it - but if you are looking for a voice and lyrics to open up your secret self - this is your musical soulmate.
Introspective, sparse, and hypnotic, Early Days is a promising first effort from this Tampa, Florida-born singer-songwriter. Not that she's a rookie: you may recognize her reedy voice from collaborations with French duo Air on their Moon Safari album, or from her duet with Wasis Diop on the Thomas Crown Affair soundtrack. However, this nine-track acoustic collage proves that Hirsch has her own clear vision. A diverse and richly textured collection of deeply personal meditations, Early Days meanders through varied subject matter like a graceful sleepwalker. "The More We Live," a sweetly modest ballad, shows jazz roots in its spare, expressive chords. "Mary the Angel" almost slips on artless lyrics that chart the tale of a girl's friendship with the family maid, but the melody is so unique and haunting that the song is saved. "Gabrielle," the album's best, traces the curve of a rocky relationship that has come full circle, with Hirsch's soaring vocals elegantly illustrating every line. --Sally Weinbach
