The Facebook
description for Kris Orlowski say "orchestrated folk pop", and I was
wondering about that. Should it be orchestral? Because they do make use of
expanded instruments, and featured a 17-piece orchestra on the latest EP. At
the same time, "orchestrated" could refer to a certain deliberateness
of the manner in which the music was implemented.
It struck me
(possibly leading to overthinking it) because what I had noticed in listening
to the music was that without being really showy, there are all of these little
bonuses in the music - trills and plinks and other small musical surprises. Because
of this, it may be valuable to listen multiple times, or at least to pay close
attention. There are rewards for it.
None of these extras
are overpowering, so the consistent attention to detail strengthens each song
while making them stand apart from each other. In "The Way You Are",
they accomplish a mood that I have heard others try to establish and fail at.
With all of that, I think my favorite song is "Waltz Of Petunia", so
make to not miss it.
They do some things
with violins here and there that are just beautiful. "Steady And
Slow" may be the best example of this, but their violin deployment is
consistently good. The funny thing is that while the violins imply a more
elegant sound, they are also doing things vocally that are almost like scat,
but not quite. Maybe they are referencing scat. That seems like they styles
would clash, but they work out. And then they can go with a completely
different feeling and strong percussion on "Follow".
The overall feeling
tends towards mellow. Several of the songs are upbeat, but as a whole it still
seems more calming than not. More important, there is a naked vulnerability
below it all, keeping everything heartfelt. The craftsmanship is not sterile.
Portland-area
readers, they seem to come to the area pretty frequently. Check the main web
site for details.
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