Name: Confessions
Brand: Nonesuch
SKU: 127509439
Price: 46.25 USD
Availability: InStock

Confessions

Rating

Album: Confessions
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Describe You	More Info...
2)	Sick of Fish	More Info...
3)	Cat Rescue	More Info...
4)	Small Spaces	More Info...
5)	Her First Confession	More Info...
6)	I Smoke	More Info...
7)	Nowheresville	More Info...
8)	Coffee Expert	More Info...
9)	Dog and Frog	More Info...
10)	If You Wait a Little Longer	More Info...
11)	Love Hits You Where it Hurts	More Info...
12)	Printer in the Morning	More Info...
13)	Don't I Know You From Somewhere	More Info...
14)	Time to Dry	More Info...

Album: Confessions
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Describe You	More Info...
2)	Sick of Fish	More Info...
3)	Cat Rescue	More Info...
4)	Small Spaces	More Info...
5)	Her First Confession	More Info...
6)	I Smoke	More Info...
7)	Nowheresville	More Info...
8)	Coffee Expert	More Info...
9)	Dog and Frog	More Info...
10)	If You Wait a Little Longer	More Info...
11)	Love Hits You Where it Hurts	More Info...
12)	Printer in the Morning	More Info...
13)	Don't I Know You From Somewhere	More Info...
14)	Time to Dry	More Info...

Performer Notes

Audio Mixer: H?ctor Castillo.
Liner Note Author: Michael Hill.
Recording information: Muziekcentrum Frits Philips, Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Editor: Teitur.
Photographers: Wouter Jansen; Tr?ndur Dalsgaro.
Confessions is the debut recording of a collaboration between Faroese singer/songwriter Teitur (Teitur Lassen) and American composer Nico Muhly that dates back to 2009 when Muhly was composer-in-residence at the Netherlands' Muziekgebouw Frits Philips. The project was inspired by the early days of social networking and the phenomenon of people uploading mundane, sometimes uniquely self-revealing home videos, specifically to YouTube. Originally conceived as a shorter set for multimedia live performance, it grew to 14 songs that they recorded with the Holland Baroque ensemble. Teitur sings these intimate glimpses into the lives and minds of everyday people, which include topics like "I Smoke" and "Printer in the Morning" ("I love the smell of my printer in the morning"). As often happens when one takes a closer look at the commonplace, the resulting songs are alternately humorous, poetic, and touching. The opening track has the speaker dismissing Jane Fonda and electricity in a failed attempt to "Describe You." ("I was trying to describe you to someone/You don't look like anyone I've seen before.") Like most of the album, it plays like intimate, contemporary chamber pop under Muhly's driving arrangements, but with the unusual accompaniment of Baroque-period strings, harpsichord, recorder, and lute. A few of the more dramatic tracks, like "Her First Confession" and the episodic "Cat Rescue," blur the lines between composition and pop song. The latter has words of remorse underscored by elongated string phrasing, while livelier instrumental passages of plucked strings and bouncy lute and recorder convey action. The album also includes two brief instrumentals, "Sick of Fish" and "Dog and Frog." On the simpler end of the spectrum is "If You Wait a Little Longer," which features just lute and vocals as Teitur philosophizes "If you wait a little longer than you normally would the most amazing thing may appear." (Though, "Most likely nothing will happen.") Later, "Don't I Know You from Somewhere" is a tuneful highlight that imagines the perspective of a sushi roll. With such an inspired concept in the able hands of Muhly and Teitur, Confessions turns out to be as charming as it sounds on paper; at times it's even profound. ~ Marcy Donelson