Trollheart

Album title: ISON
Artist: Sevdaliza
Genre: Trip-hop/Alternative R&B/Avant-pop
Nationality: Iranian
Release date: April 26
Position in Discography: Debut
Estimated Rating:

Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.30
Well this is just beautiful when it starts. Very downtempo and laid back, and since she's from Iran there's a very Middle Eastern tinge to the melody. And like wow: we're four tracks in and it only seems like one. Great stuff so far, some excellent piano melodies, great slow percussion, and this woman has a wonderful voice, haunting and ethereal but still strong and powerful. On “Hubris” she gives a great impression of a tortured soul, wailing out her frustration and pain, while there's some interesting phasing(?) effects in use on “Amandine Insensible”, but I really hate “Hero”, not just for the Autotune, the squeaky voice but also the general structure of the song. First track I haven't liked on this album though, let's hope it's the only one. It was going so well...

Yeah, “Bluecid” quickly re-establishes the high quality here, with a moving, stirring backdrop of emotional soundscapes complementing Sevdaliza's ululating voice, “Love's Way” has a very evangelical feel to it with some warbly Church organ, the music very low-key, the vocal spoken rather than sung (don't ask me by who, but it's a man: might actually be a recording of some preacher), though I'm not crazy about “Human” to be honest. The breathy passion of “Grace” more than makes up for it, however, and the album finishes strongly with the simple yet powerful “Angel”.

Check out more from this artist? Yes
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Actual Rating:

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