-----The first thing you notice about Mascott's Follow the Sound (Le Grande Magistery ***1/2) is how
unaffected it is. Singer Kendall Meade, whose band is a revolving band of collaborators, metes out her Dusty
Springfield-esque retro-fabulous pop in a wispy, almost apologetic manner. The tracks, some just acoustic guitar odes,
are free of embellishment, streamlined to be charming and simple.

-----"I learned right away about trying too hard when I started this project," says Meade, 28, a Detroit native who has
worked in Helium, Juicy and other memorable indie rock bands, and holds a day job at a Manhattan dot-com. One of
Follow's producers, Jim O'Rourke, suggested that she sing more casually. "O'Rourke's not into vocal Olympics. He
likes the mystery." Among the songs he changed was the title track: "Before, it was more of a gospel 'belt it out,
girlfriend' mood. . . . It became more reflective."

-----O'Rourke was right: Meade's ethereal delivery shines in less hurried contexts such as "Keeper of Secrets" and "The
Bells of Night," and is well-suited to the tone of emotional vulnerability that permeates the album. And though she tried
to avoid the tense-relationship songs that are the bread and butter of her more folk-minded singer/songwriter peers,
Meade says "eventually you have to accept that you're a sentimental fool and that even though it's not cool to throw
your feelings out there, sometimes that's what you have to do."

----------– Tom Moon