Diane Coll – Strangely In Tune
This is the Atlanta-based artist’s fifth album, which opens with the spacious “Better Fly Me Right.” The recording was captured with contrasting sound environments – both musical depth & speed, not so much experienced as felt. Like driving a fast car with your eyes closed. While not as consumed in weirdness as Pink Floyd’s “Ummagumma,” Diane does stretch & stretch the sweet taffy flavors of her adroit musical notes through the exceptional “Carolina Wren.”
I’d still like to say Diane’s in a Kate Bush-Jane Siberry realm, but at this point, she has shaped a sound with skill that has a Diane Coll substance, with all the torque of a well-turned musical screw. With headphones, this is a trip worth taking without legal lubricants.
13 broad sweeping acoustic guitars nestle between the distinguished effects – I say that because Diane applies her effects without embellishing the song with synths & swoops, but actually integrates her melodies through her electronic additives. No posturing…it’s musicianship.
Produced & recorded in Atlanta by multi-instrumentalist Jonny Daly & Diane Strangely In Tune (Drops Jan 6/Happy Fish Records) sprays the melodies wide from an aerosol can with notes & grooves. Not so much ambient as subtle. Evident with the sprawl of “Disappear.” Then Diane takes the middle-of-the-road type “The Dream of You,” & the sound clusters with a tight chorale, Syd Barrett “Piper At the Gates of Dawn”-type percussive elements & exuberant instrumentation.
There’s an eccentric whim to the substance of many new tunes. Yet, what makes them special is that you’d think her work would be for selective tastes. But she isn’t as dramatic as Kate Bush. This time she holds the noirish deep end with “Porcupine” — a Bertolt Brecht-Kurt Weill sweep in its arrangement. But can she rock, did you say? Ah, “Double Feature” is wonderfully triggered in a bluesy, gregarious Karen Lawrence (the band 1994) sensual vocal squeeze. This song would be perfect for Debbie Harry, Joan Jett, or Suzi Quatro.
Despite the genre Ms. Coll inhabits, she negotiates a diverse path with a platter of tunes, fast, loose & vibrant. Her slow songs are as captivating as her more challenging charmers (“Tell Jupiter, Hi”) with Diane’s weightier, warm, spacey vocal. But is this Americana? It is when she arrives with “Half Along the Way,” — splendid aural banjo.
Sometimes her voice is spacey with its echo, very ethereal. Diane should use that effect more economically as David McWilliams did with his effect on “The Days of Pearly Spencer.” Sparingly, for effect.
It’s easy for this music to get pretentious. But Ms. Coll maintains a tight grip on her work & delivers an intriguing, satisfying showcase.
Highlights – “Better Fly Me Right,” “Carolina Wren,” “Disappear,” “The Dream of You,” “Porcupine,” “Double Feature,” “Tell Jupiter, Hi,” & “Half Along the Way.”
Color image courtesy of Sarah Frost PR/Diane’s Facebook. CD @ Bandcamp & Apple + https://dianecollmusic.net/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Diane Coll “Up From the Mud”