I bought the Leigh Nash record a month or so ago. I was a casual fan of her previous band, Sixpence None the Richer. I liked them well enough to be curious about a Nash solo record, but not enough to rush out and buy it the moment it arrived on store shelves. I was strolling through a music store with a few bucks to burn, it was on sale, and I decided to roll the dice.
I listened to it once and thought it was nice. I was neither transformed nor turned off by Blue on Blue. It was pleasant, but did not make much of an impression, so it went in the pile with 30 other discs on top of my filled-to-capacity CD tower. I had mostly forgotten about it until...
This weekend, while at work, the voices in my head started having a conversation without me. I guess I overheard just enough of it to get the urge to give the disc another listen. This, boys and girls, is why I have an 80GB iPod. I never know what I will be in the mood to hear. I am able to fit the great majority of my music library on my iPod and can summon nearly any song I want any place, anytime. Greatest invention of the 21st Century is what the iPod is.
So, I queued it up on Saturday and it has grown on me. I do not think this is the album of the year. It's not. It is a good listen — and a pretty one, too. The-Wife-To-Whom-I-Am-Married thinks it is hilarious I like all the songs about "how my baby done me bad." She is right, it is funny. I have been married to an amazing person for six years now and yet I have an obsession with songs about torturous breakups and doomed relationships. I guess I buy into the adage that great art is the byproduct of pain.
There are a lot of artists who can make pain seem romantic, but not many can make happiness seem appealing. If you think that seems counterintuitive, you are not alone. So much of the "happy" music sounds contrived and fake, while the darker fare seems more authentic. John Lennon is praised for his primal scream therapy set to music; Paul McCartney got panned for writing "silly love songs" (I wonder if Sir Paul will be changing his tune in light of recent events). That is why it is a bit out of character for me to like this album as much as I do. I have tended to be more in the Lennon camp than the McCartney one, but Nash's vocals, and to a lesser extent her lyrics, make happiness sound interesting. Her voice is warm, inviting, and plain with just a teasing hint of exoticness. I suspect, based on my taste, it is the brightness in her voice that sounds exotic to me. There are no traces of rage, sultriness, or weirdness in her voice and yet I still like this record.
Article comments
1 - Joan Hunt
I shall rib you endlessly for this one, dude. And I'm revoking your "cool" card permanently for liking Sixpence None The Richer.
2 - DJRadiohead
So many ways to respond, Joan.
First, shut up! I had a hard time trying to decide if I should tell you I am so incredibly cool that I am beyond reproach in the coolness department or if I should tel you I am so hopelessly uncool that it makes me cool. Then I just decided to go with both because I'm so cool that I don't care about how cool I am. Yeah, totally.
I said a casual fan, as in, I own one CD.
And rib away... for there is much for which I can rib you and will be prepared to taunt you. Besides, you don't want to have to buy your way onto BCRadio every week, do you?
3 - Phillip Winn
Sixpence was cool, don't worry about it. I might have to check out this disc, though I'm with you -- obsessed with breakup songs. This despite having been happily with the woman who is now my wife for more than sixteen years.
4 - DJRadiohead
Exactly, Phillip! TWTWIM and I have been together 8, married 6 and I still love the brutal breakup songs. Go figure.
Sixpence was pretty good. If you liked their later stuff, this album will probably be enjoyable. I have taken to it more than I thought I would.
5 - Julie Pinsonneault
I totally relate to your penchant for depressing music. At least you're not into the dry-hump ditties and that bumps you up a cool notch or two.
6 - Anna Creech
I liked Sixpence before they crossed over into mainstream. I tried to like Nash's album, but as I wrote in my August review, it didn't grab me.
7 - DJRadiohead
Thanks, Julie! I will take all the cool points I can get. Every conceivable response to the "dry-hump ditties" line went well beyond the bonds of good taste, so just know that I had some really good ones but decided not to embarrass either of us with them.
Anna, I think part of why I like the album as much as I did is because I expected nothing from it and it got a chance to grow on me. After a few listens, it got under my skin a bit and I do really like it. My review would have been much like yours had I written this after the first listen. I am surprised it hooked me, but it has.
8 - Joan Hunt
I've already purchased my position on BCRadio, Josh. I shouldn't have to keep tithing to remain there, I'd think.
I'm really not raggin' on you about this artist. Just havin' a bit of fun. I have plenty of weird faves of my own and, perhaps, this could be a subject we discuss in depth in the near future.
9 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! This article was picked as an Editor's Pick.
10 - john
she is my wife's favorite.
need to be next to you is our theme song.