Back To Abra Moore Than Lives Up To Her Name
SING Audio links
Like a necklace with multi-colored gems, this is one of my three favorite albums (with her Strangest Places and Everything Changed the others). While nominated for best album of 1995 by the National Association of Independent Record Producers, it's too bad this classic is not more widely known.
Backup includes some of Austin's finest musicians including Mitch Watkins on lead guitar, Chris Maresh on bass, Brannen Temple and Chris Searles on drums.
Abra penned all but three songs--I Look Around, Ku'u Ome O Kahaluu, and Step Without Looking.
Her first effort as a solo artist begins with Sweet Chariot. Its rhythm perfectly captures the fun and excitement of a train vacation. That and use of her voice as a fun train whistle announce you are on board for an exotic trip through Abraland. Great poetic lyrics beat with the on-track sounds. If Amtrak used it as a theme song, more people would take the train.
Next stop: Touch And Go, a slow, warm and melodic look back at a former love. "You're traveling through my head again. I pull you out every once in awhile...like a wet fish slippin from my finger tips...touch and go."
On to I Look Around.You will understand why Abra covered this Andrea Perry jewel. Remarkably catchy, she makes it her own story of surviving bad times with optimism intact.
Forward to Some Kind of Change. When she yearns "I wanna hold you up, hold you up high in the sky" in this deeply moving ballad, you glimpse Abra's lovely heart.
Next destination, Somebody Who Cares, finds Abra as "friend" to any listener having trouble getting over a painful relationship. Sweet and to the point ballad just might be better than therapy.
Throw A Penny is a place that is remarkably catchy in its joyous confidence tempered by doubts that love can last. "Our love is only perfect for a very short time," "I'll push you deeper than you've ever been pushed before" (which you very well may find true) are the memorable lyrics along with "Throw another penny down the riverbed. Let's see if it comes up shining."
Coming back to her childhood Hawaii home is the theme of this gorgeous Hawaiian folk song Ku'u Ome O Kahaluu written by Olomana. Sung with just the right emotional pitch. Video below:
Back aboard for Dream Time--the most soothing, peaceful song I have ever heard despite the final image of crows pulling at her hair. This song establishes that Abra has a direct line to another realm.
Just west of Dream Time, is Prayer For An Angel, a dreamy, somber, original look at how possessiveness drives one away.
Moving through the year to what sounds like Christmas season "We're living in such a strange time of year" finds a stop at Half Step And A Tumble. Vivid picture of what people feel during the holidays while remaining upbeat with her friends' support. Will be especially enjoyed by people who love to walk.
On to Mother's Day when Abra penned the absolutely stunning title track. Abra's mother died when she was four. SING is Abra as a little girl who has grown up without her mom and telling her what she has missed. If any song could bridge the gap between our world and one beyond, this is it. Perhaps the most emotional-yet-cleansing song I've ever heard--again revealing Abra as healer.
Final stop is Step Without Looking which sounds like Abra wrote it. It was however written by her former Poi Dog Pondering band mate Frank Orrall. Delicate memories of love return and are faced with the stark reality of "bliss and pain and a vast dessert in between."
This song's lyrics "Let's make a pact and cast it to the wind To never let our bond be infused or thinned" is a fitting final hope for this little-known, priceless album.
To Order Sing, click on Sing/Amazon link below:
