Ismay – Desert Pavement
This is an interesting package. Colorful, vintage & this young artist starts with a quietly somber tune that’s enchanting (there’s a word you don’t hear often). This is Ismay’s (Bay-area native Avery Hellman) sophomore effort produced & co-written with Andrew Marlin (acoustic standard/12-string, electric & baritone guitars/mandolin-standard & octave/piano/bgv/harmonium/Hammond B3/effects/percussion).
The collaboration is disciplined & stylistic. While its roots music is gratifying via Americana alt-country recipes that only means it has a sweet consistency – the songs themselves are the luscious pancakes. The textures are oneiric & pleasant. Track 2 has a distant throbbing drum beat in “I Called You Up.” Instantly likable. There are shades of Ani DeFranco & PJ Harvey but not as abstract.
I understand that Ismay is proliferating. Their voice satiny smooth with a contagiously melodic vanilla flavor is ideal on the folky “Stranger In the Barn,” — framed by the haunting backup. It has an underlying edge. The tunes are well thought out & arranged. The showcase is impressive. They have more than talent, they have skill. This has an old-fashioned Euro-feel to the performance, rural & breezy. I can’t put my finger on it. A little Spanish, some Bulgarian folk? It works remarkably well.
Recorded in Asheville, North Carolina the 13 tailored tunes captured on Desert Pavement – (Drops Jan. 26-Tunzi/Independent/44:00) veer between experimental, sublime, melancholic & each rewarding in their splendor.
You can tell by the song titles that these tunes are from a different dimension. A brave attempt but they leave maneuvering room between each & each sparkles like a tiny flame. “The Dove, the Shrew & the Raccoon,” has a vulnerable delightful sway through a Jennifer Warnes tonality. But — Ismay has a patina of originality in their voice I haven’t heard often.
They assert their individuality. On “Melodies,” they rock harder & add an array of instrumental color that surrounds them like a warm coat. They never get outlandish & never showboat down the “look at me” river. They know their limitations, but their borders are virtually endless.
Their lyrics are imaginative & inventive. Though a tad melancholy & vulnerable the emphasis lassos a listener with a velvet ribbon with ease. “Where Did It Begin,” is simply a beautiful song. They tread the fertile ground of nostalgia yet never make anything sound old, dated, or retro. They’re as important an artist as when Jewel, Paula Cole & Joan Osborne first arrived.
Highlights – “The Shearer & the Darbyram,” “I Called You Up,” “Stranger In the Barn,” “The Lonely Stallion,” “Melodies,” “Where Did It Begin,” “Essay Man,” “The Window Shade,” “Coyote In the Road” & “The Ohio.”
Musicians – Ismay – Avery Hellman (vocals/acoustic, nylon & electric guitar/bgv), Andrew Marlin Andrew Allen-Fahlander (mandolin/acoustic standard,12-string & electric guitar), Clint Mullican (Upright & electric basses/baritone electric guitar/glockenspiel/ piano/bgv) & Jamie Dick (drums/percussion).
Cover image by Olivia Hellman. CD & song samples @ https://ismay.bandcamp.com/album/desert-pavement & https://www.ismaymusic.com/