I Wish My Name Was Clementine

Sarah Jaffe - The Way Sound Leaves A Room (2011)

Oh my god.  I already love Sarah Jaffe.  Her first album had virtually no non-hitters, and had a diverse selection of excellent acoustic folk.  One of the most underrated albums of 2010.  Now she comes out with a follow-up EP, and I was prepared to be underwhelmed.  It's easy to expect: her debut was a collection of songs spanning half a decade of her playing music.  Comparing cherry picked gems to whatever she can create in a single year... I wasn't going to be surprised if there wasn't a lot of growth.

But there was.  She starts off extremely strong - with a Drake cover of all things.  Shut it Down - is an unexpected cover that highlights the darkness of Drake's song in a way that Drake never could.  Removing Drake's easy-listening seductive voice, and adding an excellent female vocalists just makes you aware of the lyrics and gives the song a lot of power.

Anyway... Rest of the EP is fairly good as well... but despite the areas of growth, I don't think it touches her debut.  It is clearly an EP, featuring a redo of a Suburban Nature song, the cover, etc... It feels incomplete.  But it is good - if you are looking for something solid, I will always reccomend Suburban Nature.

Standout Track(s) -

Shut it Down

A Sucker For Your Marketing
Can't find this on YouTube or Grooveshark - but if you have Spotify (why don't you?) it can be found there.  I think I like this song mostly for the growth and change in style it has from her earlier stuff.

Interesting Note(s)-
Sarah is from Denton.  Don't have a lot to speak about the city itself, but I have great friends that live there - and whenever I see good talent coming out of the town, it makes me feel warm.

Spotify Link