Mozart's Sister "Field of Love"
Mozart's Sister is the alias of one-woman-band Caila Thompson-Hannant, an electro-pop singer, songwriter, producer, and musician now based in Montreal. A veteran of several indie bands, she launched her solo career in 2011, thereafter releasing two EPs, a few singles, and one full-length. Her latest project, Field of Love is her second full-length album.
Caila Thompson-Hannant
The aesthetic appears to be bohemian-flavored pop, with a heady blend of Motown and ‘80s’ new wave. Nearly every track bears lyrics of girlish, heart-throbbing desire, rich in vocal ornaments. Thompson-Hannant has used ample synth polyphony on these tracks, the short triadic tunes bouncing off each other like a carnival duck shoot while her sinuous voice wraps around buoyant lyrics.
"Eternally Girl" is a hopeful, joyous ode to romantic dreams, ripe with fertility symbols and accompanied by space sounds, staccato synths, and soaring vocals and ending with the enigmatic pronouncement, "You're eternally girl, and I'm eternally boy."
"Moment to Moment" is a paean to mindful infatuation. Thompson-Hannant's ecstatic voice over synth triplets and vocal loops insists ironically that this crush, wild as it may be, has no strings attached; all she asks is to be allowed to bask in the good vibrations.
Nearly every track bears lyrics of girlish, heart-throbbing desire, rich in vocal ornaments.
In "Angel" she's found the perfect metaphor to describe how transcendent love can feel during a brief moment of intimacy. Disparate musical elements are made to move beautifully in and around each other, working on the imagination to put you in another space in much the same way as Jane Siberry's music does.
It's interesting to note the synergy that can be generated by juxtaposing introverted reflection with such bouncy extroversion, but Mozart's Sister does seem to be a creature of contradictions. "My Heart is Wild," for example, starts off sounding like it's being sung by a robot before launching into a rhapsodic sound more in keeping with the lyrical theme.
Mozart's Sister's unique achievement has been to dignify bubblegum and the sentiments the genre traditionally conveys without taking away the fun and danceability; it's like Björk meets The Archies. Her persona comes across as cute, glamourous even, but never vampy, and she clearly owns her sexuality. Refreshing, to say the least.
7,997 out of 10,000 Rawckus Kung Fu Throwing Stars
