REVIEW: Veda Hille, Spine (Bottom Line)
- Chelsea Spear
An online cult called the Ectophiles, lovers of music both beautiful and fierce, have anointed singer/songwriter Veda Hille a goddess. Her music has created a cult groundswell in Canada and pockets of the United States, though her records are hard to come by stateside. Bottom Line Records, the label who helped bring Hille's wacky fellow countrymen Moxy Fruvous to an American audience, now provide the means for Hille to help her get a domestic foothold, and to make us Yanks decide if she really is a musical divinity by rereleasing her two-year-old album Spine.
Spine is a pleasant enough record. Hille has a strong, supple voice that works best when she's not emulating Janis Ian, and her lyrical insights offer startling clarity, idealism, and well-articulated anger - sometimes all in the same toothsome, well-turned phrase. Unlike the musical sisters many may find for her in the Lilith camp, Hille is capable of balancing her love of beauty and melody with her ideological anger.
If I didn't know any better, I would think this was a debut album, for there are signs all over the place of what Hille has been listening to, or, in some cases (considering the vintage of this release), who has been listening to her. Aside from the aforementioned vocal resemblance to Ian, which is most pronounced on the song "Path Of A Body", the Kashmir-flavoured coda of "Slumber Queen" sounds like an acoustic-guitar-based version of Tori Amos' new single "Spark". Additionally, the balmy piano chords of "26 Years" offer an atmosphere similar to that of Nina Simone's memoir "Four Women".
Those who have experienced Hille live swear by the experience, though there's not much here to suggest a powerhouse live show. The record's glossy production accounts for this surfeit, making everything sound much slower and elaborate than it has to. Ironically, hearing this record has piqued my interest in seeing her live; underneath all the influence and production, Hille seems like she'd have an intriguing enough voice to make for a compelling performance, and I would love to see the abundant beauty within these tunes balanced with some of the fierce spirit hinted at in an occasionally growly voice and lines like "God knows that my mouth holds more teeth than wisdom." Until then, the woman has an engaging voice that I'll be interested in hearing develop, but for my musical worship, could someone pass the Tara Key and Naomi Yang?
