ALBUM IN THE CROSSHAIRS: LEILA ADU – ODE TO THE UNKNOWN FACTORY WORKER [2011] RAI TRADE/TRACCE

[Kambui]

I don’t see Leila Adu around town every day, but I’ve met her enough times where it would be downright rude of me to see her in a tea shop and not discuss the weather or each other’s lives. Minor disclosure aside, my rule still stands – anyone who gives me access to their music to review should expect me to offer a straightforward assessment, irrespective of what the artist thinks about that perspective. My summary impressions of Leila Adu’s new Ode to the Unknown Factory Worker album – a minimally arranged set that features Adu on keys/grand piano and the occasional drumming of Daniele De Santis (from MDF) – is that she and I will not likely share weird moments in a public setting because of what I have to say about it. Ode is a collection of songs that reflect the personal challenges of someone who has traveled the world alone as Adu has done, and is a compelling set that offers a sharp differentiator from the growing army of self-labeled “singer/songwriter” trendies who feel their titles alone should command instant love at the record stores. Adu’s music acknowledges the same emotions most of us humans experience but she takes us on a low-key and highly illustrative path to arrive at similar places. Alternative music palates will be attracted to the naked delivery of these songs, but Adu goes further by deceptively dressing her compositions in layers of Pop hooks, literary devices, and classical or chamber music sensibilities. The Blues patterns practically jump into your ears. Adu’s new album will earn your affection.

Alternative music has many shades, and Leila Adu’s style can fit across virtually all of them and more. You can almost consider Adu the “Alternative-Alternative” artist. I can envision her in the fabled Danceteria playing a solo set for an engaged audience at the infamous No Entiendes cabaret. Performing with a large, supporting ensemble would never place a strain on Adu’s compositions. Her music fits well in a Brooklyn nightclub or in the music room of your friend’s cocktail party. The one thing you will need to fully enjoy Leila Adu’s songs is your attention to her songwriting details. She can play the piano in minor key at times while singing in a highly tuned voice about a serious topic where the lyrics could make you laugh at certain moments. Listeners might miss the point of Adu’s songs if they spend their listening minutes wondering if the bartender poured a sufficient amount of Jägermeister in their shot glasses. And sometimes the listeners’ numbness to stimuli can be the innocent point of her songs.

Take the album’s title track as an example. The industrialized chords speak to a toiling, banal existence as she sings about themes our current society is no stranger to – excess, consumption, misplaced values, disparity, and the struggle by others to earn a living just to feed the continual excess-to-disparity cycle. The first time I heard this song was during one of Adu’s live solo performances in 2009. I had moments where I giggled but I then paused to give more serious consideration to the song’s meaning. A closer listen to “Brazen Hussy” reveals an intelligently delivered strike between the eyes of anyone who has inconsistent guidelines for what separates “loose women” from the rest of the human race. I love how she delivers a vintage New Wave rhythm (albeit with "simply" layered electric piano playing) through “Slick Department Store” as she longs for a simpler world without the "slick" materialism.

The slow, moody organ licks in “Fortuna” helps frame the song’s story about a person’s despair and loneliness as the subtle drums provide a discernable pocket for a head-nodding groove. The emotional weight does not get any lighter through the piano-only “Glass” – a sad, but beautiful spare reference to someone facing less-than-easy times. 

Pop music can be an ideal fit for music lovers with limited attention spans, which is why I would caution recommending Ode to anyone who is hooked on Top 40 songs and X-Factor theatrics. The rest of you will have what I believe to be a meaningful addition to your 2011 album shopping lists…


http://www.leilaadu.com/
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http://www.last.fm/music/Leila+Adu
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[Tim Fielder]

Hell of Review.  Clicking to buy.