LOCAL TALENT/Alexandria Maillot
LOCAL TALENT
Higienópolis // Projectwhatever
Higienópolis is the debut record from Toronto based jazz trio LOCAL TALENT. The LP features compositions by keyboardist James Hill (BadBadNotGood, Autobahn Trio) and he is joined by bass player Rich Brown and drummer Ian Wright. The majority of the tracks were composed during Hill’s stay in the Higienópolis neighbourhood of São Paulo, and the results are just as vibrant as you’d expect.
The diversity of sounds and styles on offer here make it hard to call this a “jazz” record; each player clearly has a jazz background, but it seems as if they’ve applied their prodigious talents towards, yes, some absolutely ripping improvisation, but also towards borrowing vocabulary from classical, world, and dance music. The ostinato figure on the title track blooms into a punishing sub-bass EDM groove, while “The Silent Cry” sounds like a lost Satie piano composition, updated with electronic flourishes.
By the time Higienópolis starts to fade into the distance on “Blue Rainbow” (the excellent and somewhat more mellow final track), you already feel like you need to dive back in for another visit. Like the neighbourhood that inspired it, LOCAL TALENT’s debut is dense, intricate, and full of life. I can’t wait to go back.
- Sean Newton
Alexandria Maillot
Benevolence // Independent
This is my first review for the Cups N Cakes Network and I was very lucky to be given an album I truly love to review first. Alexandria Maillot’s third LP titled Benevolence is a beautifully produced album. Quite often less is more and this work of art exemplifies that by creating a full and deep sound with well chosen instrumentation and tone. Maillot’s opening track “I Never Liked Your Friends” starts off with the gentle plucking of a classical guitar warming the listener up for song two, “Messed it Up” which begins with absolutely gorgeous Gretsch hollow body electric guitar and just enough reverb to add some sonic depth. Maillot returns for song three “Lose My Mind” with the same Gretsch guitar but no reverb. This dryness makes you feel like you’re sitting in Maillot’s garage as she’s waiting for her predictably late band to show up for band practice. Every instrument has a purpose and young artists should look to this album as a perfect example of dynamic.
Things I love that I think you might love too:
The bass, played mostly by Mishka Klein, is unreal. Listen for how the bass creatively fills the space on “Messed Up” and “Lose My Mind” but how it also never feels too busy or like it’s stepping on any sonic toes. Tom Tartarin does some gorgeous work on the heartbreaking “Pale”.
Alexandria Maillot’s voice is obviously great. Both her range and dynamics help prevent any listener fatigue as you’re constantly wanting more. There are very few harmonies on this album which means Maillot does almost all the vocal heavy lifting. The way the vocal melodies are written and match the vowels of the lyrics are clearly the result of many years of songwriting. Her vibrato is consistent and feels natural. Multiple times she allows her voice to fall quiet at the end of note to almost a whisper which has the effect of making the listener lean in closer. In “Lose My Mind” she really shows her range over the last chorus. My favourite part of this album vocally is at the very end of “Make It Out”, all the instruments drop out and you’re left with just Maillot’s confident, sleepy vibrato. That gave me shivers the first time I heard it, as well as the second, and third…
The creative drum work on the album is performed by Volodia Schneider and matches the music very well. I’ve been…banging this drum… a lot on this review but every instrument seems to both know how to let a folk-rock song breathe while also taking centre stage when necessary. The groove on “Messed It Up” and the looser swing style on “Lose My Mind” really add a dimension that might not have existed without as talented of a drummer as Schneider. The final two songs on the album are a bit of a departure from the rest of the more folk-rock stylings which allows Schneider to really show off his creative chops.
I could talk a lot more about parts I love about this album from the lyrics, to Alexandria’s appearance of Oprah’s World’s Smartest and Most Talented Kids program, to what appears to be a Mellotron on “Lose My Mind” but the last thing I’ll write is that this album has zero fat on it. Benevolence consists of seven beautiful songs, all of which are under four minutes except for the final song “Judge”. This album is great from track 1 to track 7 and from second 1 to second 1526.
- Jordan Norman
