Musical Review: La Dauphine, "Shh..."

Hey party people. We're taking a break from the human behavior project because, well, I'm stuck. The next two characters are introverts and it's hard to write about what they're thinking as they stare at each other, silently.

Anyway, I popped on to Twitter briefly for one of my hit and run tweeting sessions, and caught a post from @cburnham mentioning the release to iTunes of Shh... (The Acoustic Tracks) by La Dauphine, which I promptly bought and downloaded. I've been waiting some time.

Shh... (Image used without permission. Link to source.)

I became aware of La Dauphine on Twitter, from where I know her also as Faith, which is easier to type, so I'm switching to that for the rest of the article.

iTunes calls it an album, but it's only four tracks. I'm not sure if that's technically a single or an EP. Regardless, it's beautiful. Let me elaborate.

First up, "Marie, Je T'aime." My initial reaction was, "This is catchy." I should mention that each track is composed of a piano and Faith's voice. The piano is full, I guess, is how I want to describe it. There's a lot of motion in the bass notes, she's (I presume it's her playing, I should ask) playing full chords as well as touching on the melody. It's not unique, I guess, but it is moving. As I type I'm listening and I am thinking, "Is it like Jerry Lee Lewis? No, more melodic, less cookie cutter. Tori Amos? Similar, less brooding, fewer treble runs. Evanescence? Amy Lee's piano is also very full and energetic, but it's still not exactly the same," and so on. Can you tell I'm a sucker for piano rock and strong female vocals?

Speaking of, next up is, "Superhuman." Where as "Je T'aime" starts with La Dauphine singing immediately, "Superhuman," starts with a slow, quiet piano solo, which builds dramatically over the first thirty seconds, the note is held, and the voice enters... the first time I heard it the air literally left my lungs. Even now I've heard it maybe a dozen times and I still have goose bumps. If I learn tomorrow that Faith has studied opera I will nod and mutter, "That 'splains it." "Superhuman," is far and away my favorite track, and builds in me excitement to hear some of the 40 as-yet-unreleased tracks she's teased me with on Twitter.

Moving on to, "Enough." It feels like Faith is KISSing (Keeping It Simple S...) here. On "Enough," the lyrics rule. I want you to listen to it, so I'm not going to discuss it too much. She describes thoughts we all have and an evolution of the narrator's character that we will all identify with and does it without digressing into cookie cutter phrases and stale cliches (thanks for that).

Finally, "Letters to the King." I may be reading into the lyrics, but I believe this song ties up a cohesive story which runs through all four songs. When you hear it, you will relate to the swelling and crashing emotion that resolves with quiet determination: at once sad, but hopeful.

Most importantly, Faith is obviously capable of many mind blowing piano and especially vocal stunts, but unlike too many artists, she is not compelled to add them to every song and reserves them for profound emphasis. Well done!

Look, it's $4. Skip the latte frappaccino and download the thing. Tell your friends. It will brighten your day. It did mine.