In case you haven’t figured it out by now, I am a big fan of jazzy, raspy, (see Cerys Matthews, Adele, Rachael Yamagata, etc) female singer/songwriters. Another one, Sonya Kitchell, has caught my ear in the past few months with her latest album, This Storm, released back in September.
While her instrumentation and acoustic ability are superb, Kitchell’s vocals “make” the music. When she sings she seems to be in another universe, floating above the clouds – perhaps embodying her own state of mind. Her songs flow effortlessly yet powerfully, deeply resonating and gaining momentum with each second. Some of her jazzy sound on this latest album is likely due to the influence of her tour with Herbie Hancock, right before she recorded This Storm.
Kitchell’s lyrics are also an attempt to explore the human condition on a deeply sophisticated level, adding to her appeal. As she says on her website, “I hope to create music that has as much of an effect on others as artists like Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, Janis Joplin, and Leonard Cohen had on me. I know that’s setting the bar very, very high but that’s my goal.” Oh and by the way, Kitchell is only 19 years old. (Twist ending, I know. I’m probably the next Bryan Singer.)
Sonya Kitchell – “For Every Drop” (highly recommended)
For those in the Knox Road region, Kitchell will be playing January 8 at Ram’s Head Tavern.
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