foxy digitalis
Lee Jackson
CD Review
The Russian born singer/guitarist Julia
Vorontsova sings her moody folk pop in a voice that's deep and
experimental-think Nico and Brigitte Fontaine-in her native
tongue. The songs of her debut full length, "From St
Petersburg With Love," cover the rocky terrain of love,
friendship and loss with a deep empathy that belies her modest
age. The solemn rhythms are both inviting and a tad
off-setting. Not many dare sing folk pop songs in Russian these
days, but this is hardly a novelty. It could maybe be argued
that she bites off a bit more than she can chew across 24
songs, but Vorontsova weaves an uncommon musical spell all the
same with her acoustic fingerpicking and ornamental vocal
style. Some songs are nothing more than sketches of an odd
dream, but more often than not, Vorontsova's melodies and
playing get under the skin, like her simple, archetypal titles
("Streetcar," "Rock n Roll,"
"Rome," "Grandfather,"
"Lullaby"), cutting to the bone and surpassing any
obvious surface appeal as she dives headfirst into the morass
of the human soul.
It's a subtle folk pop stew that can make a
lasting impression with her worldly purr the obvious focal
point, but her songs and delivery are studied and accomplished
in their own right, but not too much so. She still evinces a
scrappiness that can be seen as an asset these days, but others
could dismiss as inexperience. The way Vorontsova relays her
words in that forlorn but trusted tone, guiding the listener
through the secret chambers of the heart with nary of hint of
fear or denial, is anything but manufactured though. It's the
kind of nakedness that Britney Spears and her descendents will
never achieve, no matter how many assless chaps they should
adorn for the sake of "performance". English
commentary and drawings by the artist are included to further
illuminate this singular musical experience.
