| Lauren
Brombert seems sort of overqualified for her sound. A University of Chicago graduate with
a Master's in Russian linguistics from Yale University, Brombert spent years of schooling,
teaching and traveling Europe before she finally put her lofty intellectual pursuits on
hold and gave into her desire to be a songwriter. According to her bio she's heavily
influenced by the unusual songwriting of artists like Jonatha Brooke and Sam Phillips. Now
those are good recommendations.
Then why is her album so... usual? For a debut
independent recording, Brombert's From These Stones is an easy listen and a solid
piece of pop craftsmanship, with genuinely catchy tunes, unimpeachable modern rock
performances, and solid lead vocals reminiscent of the supple throaty tones of Allison
Moyet. She shows significant promise, and fans of the likes of, say, Sixpence None the
Richer will probably find this album quite play-worthy.
But don't expect much real creativity. Brombert
and her co-producers, David Chelimsky and Craig Williams, stick to the most blandly
radio-friendly of pop arrangements. Her acoustic guitars lay down familiar Brooke- esque
guitar rhythms that have of late become common place in dentist's offices and motor shops.
The electric guitars buzz away predictably, mimicking the sorts of pop sounds to which the
creative Brooke has recently resorted in order to get airplay, not the kinds of unusual
harmonic textures that originally wooed her cult following.
The songwriting too is fine but unremarkable.
Brombert writes Romantic poetry ("Driting like streams of swirling incense, full
surrender, no resistance, I smolder here, until you take control"). She pens words
about relationships without a tremendous amount of verbal ambition ("I'll be waiting,
I'll be waiting here, I'll be knocking at your door;" "We may sink or we may
fall, we may rise or we may fall"). A few exceptions that give more hints of
Bombert's obvious intelligence: the "Remains of the Day" deserves more than a
fleeting moment of attention. At least two songs ("Nowhere at All," "Key To
My Heart") explore that ambivalent point in long-running relationships where the
spark of passion has dimmed and couples are left to determine whether to interpret their
murky feelings of affection as "love" or go look for something hotter. "Am
I with you because I am with you?" Brombert asks. "Am I with you cuz [sic] there
is no one else? Am I with you cuz I can't be without you? Am I with you so I won't be by
myself?" Elsewhere, in "Nowhere at All," she writes, "It's taken a
lifetime to decide that I can't know what happens if I'm at your side." Eat your
heart out, Stephen "Ambivalence" Sondheim.
A few songs break through the routine prettiness
with glimmers of uniqueness: the quietly jazzy "Tears of the Moon," the driving
rock anthem "Remains of the Day," the bamboo flute- decorated "Key to My
Heart," the Suzanne Vega-esqe "Like an Angel."
And even the most predictable songs can compete
with plenty of similar pop songsmiths. The only problem is there are plenty of similar pop
songsmiths.
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