Brandi Shearer- Close to Dark Review

Artist: Brandi Shearer
Title: Close to Dark
Website: http://www.brandishearer.com
Style: Singer-Songwriter/ Torch/ Blues
Label: Amoeba Records
Rating: 7.9 out of 10
By C.W. Ross

 

While Brandi grew up on a small farm located in rural Oregon she's also spent time living in both Hungary and France before returning to the U.S. to continue her music career.  She currently calls San Francisco home.

 

Brandi has two previous independently produced albums, Music of A Saturday Night and The Sycamore. Amoebe Records picked Brandi's latest release Close to Dark to be the label's inaugural release. That was a wise choice with Brandi's music having many different musical flavors including, singer/songwriter, alt. country, blues, and 40's torch singer that should appeal to a wide range of audiences.

 

Brandi's smokey, sultry vocals on several of the songs painted a picture for me of her being in a 40's smoke filled lounge in a slinky evening gown perched on top of a piano with a martini in one hand and a cigarette in a long holder in the other hand singing torch songs about love had and love lost.

 

In contrast to that you'll find a stretch of several songs that have an alt. country feel to them. You'll also find a cover of the 1971 Jeannie C. Riley song, "Oh Singer." The song's lyrics talk about longing for the simpler times when things weren't so complicated and hectic.

 

The songs are left a little edgy with a lot of them being recorded in only one take thanks to a great group of musicians that Brandi has surrounded herself with.

 

Close to Dark for the most part has a melodic flow to it that makes it an ideal CD to put in the stereo on a rainy day or for a relaxing evening.

 

Amoeba Records has done well picking Close to Dark for their first release. Both Amoeba Records and Brandi's musical future should be bright.