I don’t know how much happens in the town of Eau Claire, in Wisconsin, but the soft tones that breathe through the work of Adelyn Rose makes my mind indulge into a place of tepid tranquility.
As one would probably hope, her voice is enchanting, with the sort of perceived wisdom that places an enduring spell of cerebral numbing over the listener. The consistency of the music helps this all flow into an effluent flow of serenity, with a gradual gratification achieved from the unrepentantly softest of touches. This is the sort that, in truth, takes the most skill and considered refinement to carve out with such assured elegance, no matter how easy and forthcoming it may feel to the listener when served up with the final product. The seeming effortlessness of these tracks is where Adelyn Rose finds her grace.
There are a few releases to get your way through, all available on the group’s bandcamp. Across them all, ‘Collisions’, on the full-length ‘Mezzanine’, is probably the only track to ever let slip a stab of real vigour or virility. The most recent release, ‘Tour EP’, is more adventurous in its instrumental construction, without seeming to threaten the overall composure of her material, something that can be considered a promising sign that this group can bear the weight of demand. The occasional emergence of other male vocalists places variation with balance, and generally holds short of upsetting the steady and entrancing pace of the songs. If you skip way back to the first self-titled EP, you’ll hear three stripped-down songs written by Adelyn’s lone self that are astonishingly well put together for someone’s first three demo tracks. All well worth a listen.
It does sound like the sort of music you’ve heard a lot of times before, and it does also admittedly feel like it’s fallen straight off the soundtrack of ‘Juno’ or ‘Garden State’, but the beauty of this young lady’s voice still shimmers, and who are we to stop that? It’s sometimes nice to put aside the pragmatics of reality and appreciate the life and love neatly packed into what is such delightful and earnestly simple music. Music pour le music.
