Odessa: All Things

Trying to balance yourself between the line of folk and indie is a hard act but Odessa seems to be able to do it easily. Her new album, All Things is filled with ethereal harmonies and beautiful melodies that mesh together to create a meditative album. It is dreamy but shouldn’t be easily discarded for its softness.

All Things comes from a place deep down. It has experience and emotion behind it, two things that Odessa does not lack. Born beside the sea, she balances the hazy California brightness with Pacific Coast pessimistic wallowing. In all her musical mysticism, she has created an album that is both wonderfully dreamy and vivid, creating a beautiful audible landscape.

One of the most rousing tracks on the album is “Thunder”. It’s subtle and stirs up emotions right from your belly. She creates a vast and wide musical landscape held up by strings that swell to create a momentous strength within the track. The track itself is about searching for the unknown and temptation. Odessa has been honest about her struggles with this album. She found it difficult to render creativity and decided to move away. It seems that as thunder rolls on this track, that she may have just successfully weathered the storm.

While “Thunder” maybe a track of cinematic proportions, Odessa brings it right back to folk with “Live On”. It is a track of empowerment and how opportunity helps people take a chance. Through its waltzing rhythm, this track is like bright morning sunlight, beaming through a window. The harmonies are heavenly and while they are layered, they are light, airy and free. It is like a perfect morning when the world is at your feet.

Those pockets of wonder and harmony only last so long in life and Odessa is acutely aware of that. “Hard As I Try” deals with heartbreak and is like an audio journal entry. Her honest lyrics paired with a dissonant piano playing and plod-along guitar, she creates a raw and emotionally devastating track.

It may seem like All Things is an album of epically depressing proportions, but it’s more than that. It is a work of rediscovery for both Odessa and her listeners. It is a musical trance that doubles up as a therapy session. And with all her classical training, Odessa has created a holistic album that engages all the senses.

Rating: 8.2/10

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