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Sunday 24 April 2016

Album Review...Cary Grace - Tygerland


Cary Grace is an American multi instrumentalist who has called England home for the last 10 years. She runs Wessex Analogue; manufacturing Wiard brand boutique modular synthesisers. Tygerland is her 9th album. 

The album opens to the sounds of  synths and patterns; 'Tygerland' is the sound of a musician warming up, preparing you to settle down before the opening riff of 'Cyanide' kicks in.  The song offers a pleasing nod to mid 70s era Neil Young, with blistering solo's and 70s rock chord progressions leading the way. 'Orange Sky' is a more electronic/trippy affair, percussive and immersive, in contrast to 'Cyanide'.  It is made all the captivating, once more, by Grace's vocal delivery.
'War child' is another piece evocative of 70's rock with a more bluesy vocal; it's runs at 9 minutes and is easily one of the albums highlights. 'Limelight' offers another change of pace, bluesy and glowing warmly throughout; it leads nicely into the opening of 'Razorwire'.
'Razorwire' has a summer like inflection; it flows beautifully, and again, benefits from a different vocal tone from Grace over its 8 minute journey. 'Into the Indigo' is a mellow, thoughtful piece and quite minimalistic, compared a lot of the other tracks on the album.
The album ends with the experimental 'Windsong'. A mammoth 20 minutes in length, it's intro builds slowly before the spoken word poetic delivery of the lyrics tell its story; the pay off comes in just past the 12 minute mark; heavy drumming and guitars fight over the complex electronic noises.

Tygerland's strengths lie in the crafting and layering of the tracks, as well as Grace's alluring vocal.  The songs themselves are eclectic in style, yet follow in a cohesive manner: the myriad of different synth styles and sounds employed here elevate the songs to offer a more varied listening experience. It's a record you'll find yourself going back to often.

Official Website

Cary Grace on Facebook

Buy Tygerland Here.


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