| Maria Taylor doesn't scream her angst or snarl out her problems. She doesn't warble melismas with the glut of high-strung chart divas. With understated grace and aplomb, she writes the sort of classic, sad songs once favored by the first ladies of American songwriting. Her soulful melodies and honeyed vocals conjure those leaked from radios on nights we fell asleep in the backseats of our parents’ cars. Without leaning on nostalgia, Maria’s first solo full-length, 11:11, evokes the artistry of greats like Carole King, Laura Nyro and Rickie Lee Jones while it spans the spectrum from acoustic folk to electronic dream pop. Though often referred to as half of the duo Azure Ray or 1/4 of Now It’s Overhead, Maria’s talents have seen her name attached to an impressive roster of musicians. She’s popped up on Crooked Fingers’ Bring on the Snakes, Bright Eyes’ Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, and Moby’s 18(yes, that Moby). Her distinctive, luminous vocals provide a unifying thread through such unlikely releases as The Bruces’ Shining Path, The Faint’s Wet From Birth, and Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. |
|