(2021) Renée Reed - Renée Reed
Review:
Renée Reed has managed to begin to move heaven and earth merely by doing things her own way, on her first self-titled release. Born and raised in south west Louisiana, what you expect to hear and what she delivers are two completely different things. She is as Cajun as they come, her grandfather was an accordion player, her parents had a Cajun shop, while her great uncle and his brothers were members of the Cajun band Mamou. With that kind of background, one would expect Reed to be oozing Cajun vibes from every pore. Yet, for the most part, nothing could be further from the truth. Recording on an old Tascam cassette four-track from the comforts of home, Reed has crafted a remarkable recording that deals less with her roots than it does with an array of folk that she found her way into, along with time spent at Richard Thompson’s masterclass camp in Woodstock, New York. Yet she also discovered French artists like Serge Gainsbourg and Françoise Hardy. Mix it all together and you get a roux that is more international and less Cajun. Part of the mystery and the mastery of this recording is how much she is able to accomplish using that old four-track. A tribute to her skill and the mastery of her craft, these 12 songs create an indelible image. Describing her music as “dream-fi folk from the Cajun prairies,” the songs deal with a variety of issues that create “a whole document of me coming to terms with myself and embracing who I am without reserve.” She addresses everything from seeing ghosts and daydreaming about love, to unhealthy relationships and ancestral baggage and blessings. She also moves freely between singing in English and French. There’s a way in which these songs sound beautiful to the ear while being about some of the worst times in her life. “Out Loud” illustrates how much pain this woman has experienced, enough to burn with a rage that is masked by her gentle delivery, “I could be daydreaming/ deep in the corner/ I tell all your secrets out loud,” Masking the bitterness in her delivery creates something that burns even harder. “Your Seventh Moon” reveals even more about Reed’s character. Her pain is almost beyond control, “Fell off the wire like I’ve never done before / Human design can fold in a ball.” These are thoughts more often associated with a poet than a songwriter, illustrating more about the depths of her talent. That she does all this using little more than her guitar and a keyboard makes this recording all the more remarkable. The whole philosophy that less is more comes to fruition on Renée Reed. Using the most rudimentary of equipment she is able to spin songs of pure gold. You can and should get lost in this album and let its spell fill the air. Renée Reed has found a most magical place. We are lucky that she has allowed us to come along for the ride.
Tracklist:
01 - Out Loud
02 - I Saw a Ghost
03 - Little Flower Dance
04 - Fast One
05 - Neboj
06 - Où est la fée
07 - Until Tomorrow
08 - Your Seventh Moon
09 - The Ash
10 - Fool to the Fire
11 - If Only We Could
12 - Drunken Widow's Waltz
Media Report:
Genre: dream-pop, indie-folk
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
