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Tara Jane O'Neil beads the dreamy country/folk esthetics of
Joni Mitchell, Mary Black, and Ani Difranco into
her Bohemian raptures, finely ribbing her fourth album In Circles
with a silky sonorousness. There is blissfulness in the acoustic gossamer
of the instruments and a beatific grace in O'Neil's registers. Her
vocal melodies take the shape of the elysian-sloped guitar strums,
and chime with a divine resonance that hallows the instrument parts.
Tara Jane O'Neil is a niche artist whose album In Circles
offers gorgeous instrumental coloring and vocal glosses caped in a
demure nakedness. The themes in her songs display the beauty of wounds
and blessings, inclusively eulogized in a becalming voice and instruments
rotating in an elliptical shape. Her songs have a Zen-like essence
and a peaceful elegance with a Shawn Colvin fluency. The airy
instrument lifts on "Primer" are speckled with bell sounding
synths while the country/folk tangent of the guitar strums for "A
Partridge Song" recline with a Casey Chambers restfulness.
The acoustic orientations of the melodies are enhanced by interludes
of synths and floating vocal phrases. The simplicity and ruminative
nature of O'Neil's songs present an airy tonality lathered in delicate
sounds and a rustic guitar panoramic.
"The Louder" ventures into darker toned guitar plucking
reminiscent of Laura Cantrell while the airiness of the flute
patterns on "A Sparrow Song" are stylized by folk-encrusted
guitars, tambourines, and keyboard intervals. O'Neil delves into multiple
tonalities on tracks like "A Room For These" and "Blue
Light Room" with lowlights of keyboards at the base of the song
and mid-lights of guitar and percussions illuminated by highlights
of dusky vocal glides. The ligaments are smooth as the havens of tones
are melded into heavenly calm and softly channeled instrument ramps.
The motions are artistically handled like the instrumental pieces
fanning "Fundamental Tom" and "This Beats" propagating
instrument sections that glow greater with each composite of billowing
successions. The notes are gradually blended into each other until
they bloom fully and then disperse into splintering shards.
Tara Jane O'Neil, whose journey began in her hometown of Portland,
Oregon and has consisted of being in such underground bands as Rodan,
Retsin, and Sonora Pine, as well as starring in the
indie film Half-Cocked, has emerged into a prosperous solo
career starting in 2000 with her debut album Peregrine. In
addition to being an accomplished singer and songwriter, O'Neil is
also an acclaimed painter and music composer for theatre and short
films. Her songs are deemed as sound art with an acoustic environment
framing her blissful vocals. Her duets are with nature as she sings
with birds on "A Sparrow Song" and "The Partridge Song"
and the Pacific Ocean on "The Louder." Her music has an
ethereal beauty and a nakedness that joins simplicity and free flowing
harmony with the celestial bodies that inhabit nature.
-Susan Frances
Track Listing:
1. Primer
2. A Partridge Song
3. The Louder
4. A Sparrow Song
5. A Room For These
6. Blue Light Room
7. Need No Pony
8. Fundamental Tom
9. The Looking Box
10. This Beats
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Tara
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