Maria Taylor - 11 : 11

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 19 / 5 / 2005

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Although '11:11' is the solo debut from Maria Taylor she is already known as part of Azure Ray and has apart from appearing on numerous albums most recently lent her vocal skills to two songs on label-mate Conor Oberst's (Bright Eyes) ‘I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning’ album. Oberst returns the favour here by supplying backing vocals to ‘Song Beneath The Song’. Was there any other period in the history of popular music when there was such an abundance of female singer/songwriters as there is just now? It seems that every month throws up yet even more in an all ready over crowded genre. While it’s a crying shame that due to the sheer amount of similar musicians that most of these talented artists will get overlooked for the most part, it will be a major disappointment and a crime if Maria Taylor doesn’t get singled out for some special attention, for that’s what this artist is; a special talent. While most of her contemporaries follow either an out and out pure pop route or take that well trodden alt.country path Taylor has taken a leaf out of the past and wrapped her songs in the melodies and arrangements of the first wave of female singer/songwriters like Carole King and those that followed in the 60's and 70's. These ten songs are not rehashes of past glories though; multi-instrumentalist Taylor (who plays guitar, piano, drums on these songs) has taken those glorious melodies and brought them right bang up to date for 2005. The aforementioned ‘Song Beneath The Song’ simply couldn’t have been cut in the 60's or 70's. Mixing folk to electronic pop music has never been totally successful, Beth Orton managed it to a certain extent and for the most part her work is excellent but it’s hard to think of Orton or anyone else for that matter coming up with a melody as catchy as that of ‘Song Beneath The Song’. If you don’t want to go around with Taylor singing “ It’s not a love song” in your head all day don’t get anywhere near this song. It’s that addictive. The best and most surprising thing about this album is the sheer diversity of the songs Taylor has written; following on from that song is ‘Two Of Those Too’ a ballad which really shows off Taylor’s vocal skills, strong but vulnerable at the same time, and the touches of mandolin and pedal steel adding texture to Taylor’s piano. Of the ten songs, eight of which are Taylor originals, only one disappoints, the jazz sounds of ‘Speak Easy’ (albeit with violin, cello and banjo) is the only track which doesn’t work as well as the others. That’s not to say it’s a bad song. On another album it would more than likely be singled out for attention and as always Taylor’s vocals are outstanding but maybe too much Norah Jones or Amy Winehouse has fulfilled my jazz quota for this year or more likely it’s because the other nine songs are just so brilliant. Maria Taylor has made the best female singer/songwriter album of the year, and it’s unlikely that any other release this year is going to come close to it. Nine classic songs out of 10 is not bad going for a debut and it’s been the most played album round these parts since falling into my hands. It’s one of those albums that impresses from the very first listen and never fails to turn up new sounds or surprises with each subsequent play. Outstanding, brilliant, excellent; I could list superlatives all day and still not convey just how good this album is. Lend it a listen and prepare to be hooked.

Track Listing:-

1 Leap Year
2 Song Beneath the Song
3 Two of Those Two
4 Nature Song
5 Lighthouse
6 One for the Shareholder
7 Xanax
8 Birmingham 1982
9 Speak Easy
10 Hitched!

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/mariataylor
http://www.mariataylormusic.com/
https://instagram.com/mariataylor1111/
https://twitter.com/maria_taylor

Label Links:-

http://saddle-creek.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SaddleCreekRecords
http://www.last.fm/label/Saddle+Creek
https://www.youtube.com/user/SaddleCreekRecords
https://twitter.com/saddlecreek

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