 San Diego Troubadour :: July 2005 Jane Lui may no longer be known as just "Jane," formerly of Jason and Jane, after the old acolytes hear her debut CD. Teargirl finds this seasoned neophyte knocking it out of the solo artist ballpark far enough to clear the wall into the bleachers, but not enough to put the excessive pressure of an unbeatable precedent on future efforts. In other words, it's just about as ideal a debut as it gets. Lui brings an erudite musicality and a fecund imagination to this CD. She has also penned a dynamically diverse range of material that is rich in metaphor, melody, and emotional depth. The fait accompli rests on the wise decisions she made in the process of choosing her team, which is reflected in the selection of the studio musicians who play everything from sophisticated string, harp, and horn arrangements to standard rhythm section instruments, and in the sagacious choice of engineer and co-producer Aaron Bowen, whose instincts have served this music in the best possible way. The two constants here are Lui's deft, maturely restrained piano chops and her formally trained, emotionally dynamic voice. "Yellow Light" flows gracefully through whisper-soft to top-of-the-lungs changes in vocal intensity, and this, coupled with her adroit piano work, lends a Tori Amos-like timbre to most of the songs. Teargirl's sheer diversity of material, instrumentation, and production is enough to engage layman and pedant alike, even if they ultimately find its heterogeneity unsavory. Anyone thrown off by the subdued, sparse textures of songs like "Blue Square" and "Years of Roses" will take an instant, alternate shine to more energetic, radio-ready tracks like "Pigeon Woman" and "Freddie Goodtime," and vice versa. And yet this is the kind of record that seems capable of that miracle of miracles: the conversion of fans of either sound to an eventual acceptance of the rest of the album. Teargirl augurs like Hank Aaron's first home run; the only thing left to do is realize that the game is more enjoyable at the park than on TV. Edify yourself at teargirl.com and janeshands.com, and buy Teargirl at CDBaby.com or at her live appearances. |
