Songstress/producer Emily Wells comes from a classical music background (her best-used instruments are violin and vocals), but she's also versed on guitar, banjo, glock, synths, piano, drums and electronics as she displays in her latest solo album, Mama. Wells employs modern techniques of looping and layering to get to her pocket symphonic mix of alterna-folk, trip hop and melodic dream pop, all of it interwoven with snatches of sublime otherness – like the bright island dub appeal of "Johnny Cash's Mama's House" or the ethereal experimentalism in "Darlin'." Mama slinks and grooves as Wells croons moodily on themes of home and family, her vocals a haunting velvety crush of coy or melancholic or matter-of-fact loveliness that sinks into your soul with its spellbinding resonance. (Out April 10 via Partisan Records)
4 Stars
This article appears in Apr 12-18, 2012.