ACAPELLA is not a musical term that tends to shift a lot of product.
And yet, such is Vancouver singer-songwriter Leah Abramson's love for old-school vocal clarity, she has boldly placed a voices-only track near the start of both albums released under The Abramson Singers banner.
Not that Late Riser or the band's self-titled debut are rootsy by the rulebook: rather they take what could be called Americana (if that's allowable in Canada), and filter it through the nirvana of 1960s girl groups and 1970s singer-songwriters, before bringing it up to date with shadings of indie-rock.
From the vocal loops that fit over the male-voice pulse of Liftoff Canon to the 20-strong choir on Red River Valley, Late Riser puts the human instrument to the fore, but also raises the song arrangements just a notch higher than on the band's 2010 release.
Abramson's writing continues to grow too: Jack Of Diamonds and Lose-Lose showcase the post-Joni pop songstress she could so easily be, should she ever decide to go all the way down that road. Instead, she prefers to keep her stylistic options open, with one foot in folk music, the other in indie, but neither in what we think of as indie-folk over here.
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