Spotlight
This Kickstarter-funded self-release from Austin-based, singer-songwriter Aimee Bobruk will see the light of day in January. Aimee previously put out an EP in 2003 and her debut album, The Safety Match Journal, in 2008. /ba.’brook/ is a collaboration between Aimee and producer Brian Beattie and drummer Dony Wynn. The arrangements aren’t fancy, yet they verge on the fanciful at times due to the use of unusual percussion, be it the wind-up toys, spinning bicycle spokes, and smashed glass sounds found on “In Your Own Language” or the tings of a tiny xylophone on “Perfect Circumstance”.
Most songs, however, are in the strummed to plucked guitar mold, with Aimee keeping it light, lyrics-centered, and focused on her hushed, sometimes wavering, sing-talking vocals. Aimee sounds like Alison Weiss on the upbeat “A Day in the Life”, employing a sharply winsome tone and electric guitar notes. “Two of a Kind”, the lead single, adds doubled vocals and a touch of horns and keyboards to the mix as Aimee sings with a bit of a tremble “Place your heart next to mine.”
Two of Aimee’s strongest songs are found near the album’s end. An alt-country vibe runs through “Is There Nothing”, which features pedal steel guitar lines that follow Aimee’s plaintive vocals as she asks “Is there nothing I can do or say / to make you wanna stay?” “Trigger Finger” is even more of a venture, with Aimee displaying an emotive frisson that is nonexistent on previous album tracks. Against minimal accompaniment of guitar and emphatic drums, Aimee sings in an anxious tone about the subject of violence and relationships, cutting through any niceties with the lines “Down on your knees / stop begging please.”