Posted on: June 23, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

There are two distinct styles that are struggling for dominance during the early reaches of “Orange Days On Lemon Street”. There is a folk sound that reaches out to fans of Vetiver and Devendra Banhart, but there is a decidedly pop influence here that plays on female artists that range from Natalie Imbruglia to Alanis Morrisette and Tori Amos, even touching a little on Amy Winehouse before the track ends. After “All We’ve Ever Done” ends, “Could’ve Had Me” has a stop-start sound that furthers the soulful, Amy Winehouse meets Duffy sound that started off the disc.

The atmospheric approach of the backing instrumentation during “Could’ve Had Me” will draw listeners back to the nineties, back when bands like Massive Attack and Portishead were at the height of popularity. Perhaps the strongest thing about the first few tracks on “Orange Days On Lemon Street” shas to be the cohesion that is cultivated. Despite the fact that the songs all sound fundamentally different from each other, there are a number of strings that Lex Land threads through these early tracks, ensuring that listeners are firmly ensnared by the end of a track like “Easy”. Even when there is a little bit of a Caribbean type of influence present, as is the case during “Easy”, Lex Land is able to ensure that listeners are able to identify the composition as uniquely eirs. The brooding, deliberate sound of the instrumentation that starts off “Sweet” provides a nice opposing force to Lex Land’s vocals, which tend to meander and play at the top of the composition.

The slightly disjointed instrumental approach that is present during the chorus gives the track a Bjork type of influence, but even this is fleeting. The guitar line that weaves its way though bits and pieces of the track places “Sweet” in a special space that is all its own, and gives listeners further evidence that what Lex Land is doing is truly unique, something that has not previously been done in music, either popular or not. The later tracks on “Orange Days On Lemon Street”, such as “What I Want From You”, share the same quality and impressive nature. “Orange Days On Lemon Street” is not a single-oriented album, and while listeners can pick out their favorite tracks, I would advise that potential listeners sit down and give Lex Land about an hour to listen, mull over, and dissect what they have heard over the course of this CD. Keep listening to Lex Land and see how eir evolves and changes in the years and decades to come.

Top Tracks: As Much As You Can, How Often?

Rating: 6.9/10

Lex Land – Orange Days On Lemon Street / 2008 Intelligentnoise / http://www.lexland.net / http://www.intelligentnoise.com /

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