Posted on: May 28, 2012 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The opening to “Something Pretty Something True” is in the same vein as acts like Fiona Apple and Joan Osbourne, but there is a less bland instrumentation that is flittering behind Silver’s vocals. For this opening track (the title track), there is a heavy Hispanic influence to the track that gives the track a certain international flair. “Flame I Should Fear” has much less of this innovative sound, and leaves Silver with the bill. This means that ey has to push the track along for nearly four minutes, and there just is not enough in the way of differentiation in Silver’s voice to chalk this up as a straight success. This lack of material and energy is exacerbated during “Time and Space”, which is the longest track on “Something Pretty Something True” by over 45 seconds. The style of this track is such that individuals meander along the wispy guitar and vocal lines laid on this track, while there is little in the way of progression from the beginning to the end of the track.

Silver goes back to the successful side of things with “Cowboy”, a track that adds some interesting instrumentation into the mix (strings to match the “country” sound of the track). The change that is made during this track is perhaps the smartest move that Silver makes on the entirety of “Something Pretty Something True”, as it breaks ranks from the status quo previously achieved by the disc and re-energizes listeners so that they can take on the rest of the disc. The soft listening style of “Cover Me” is another curveball provided listeners by Silver.

There are small hints of jazz present throughout this track, and just adding that little chunk of spice keeps things fresh. Individuals may not know who exactly Arielle Silver is, but the ability of Silver on this disc to save eirself from mediocrity by adding small chunks of different sounds and styles shows a maturity that not many artists have in the current period. The full sound of “Missing You” gives listeners Silver’s first marketable single. The horn that plays alongside Silver’s vocals is yet another new direction for eir, and opposes the drums nicely on the track. Where most of the individuals songwriters typically just follow each others’ directions, Arielle Silver comes up with enough in the way of new twists and turns to keep listeners guessing and above all, happy with the state of things up to that point.

Top Tracks: Pretty Parting Goodbye, Missing You

Rating: 6.8/10

Arielle Silver – Something Pretty Something True / 2006 Passion / 13 Tracks / http://www.ariellesilver.com / Reviewed 01 October 2006

[JMcQ]

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