The Womb: Origami Swan

Note: This review has been officially retracted. The artist has retracted the release, and removed the Creative Commons license from it. The document remains here as a historical artifact.

George De Bruin on November 4, 2013

Title: Origami Swan
Artist: The Womb
Release Date: October, 2013
Genre: Vocal Jazz
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Label: blocSonic

[Note: This review has been officially retracted. The artist has retracted the release, and removed the Creative Commons license from it. The document remains here as a historical artifact.]

Smoldering vocals by Claire Jeddou and exceptional guitar work by Cameron Piko are all the reason that you need to listen to this release. Seriously, from the opening track the pair will have you in their grasp and you will not want to escape.

Claire has all of the vocal qualities that I love: slightly breathy, solid middle range with a small amount of vibrato just on the edge of her voice. Her command of a melodic line is amazing, even in the refrains you have to pay attention because no two are the same, and her slight shadings and choices in phrasing add dimensions each and every time. I swear, she is the kind of singer that could perform the phone book or a dictionary and I would listen to the whole thing from beginning to end relishing in all of the nuances of her performance.

Cameron is definitely a master of the guitar. Both on the smoldering jazz tune ‘Origami Swan’ and ‘L.B.N.I.A.S.W.’ he turns in performances that manage to compliment both Claire’s vocals, while accentuating the rhythms of the tracks at the same time. This is no small feat, there are many guitarists that feel they are “professional” that haven’t developed this level of sensitivity and attention to detail.

But, I think both Cameron and Claire would be the first to say that their performances would not have been possible if the material for the five tracks on this EP weren’t top notch in quality. And they are. Even the tracks that neither of them appear on are solid abstract works that fit well with the more jazzy style of the rest of the release.

And, that adds an element that excites me. It’s obvious that The Womb is not a “one-trick” style artist. They move from smokey jazz, to slightly disco-funk, to abstract keyboard drones with a deft skill that smokes many other artists that don’t even have one style under their belt.

All of this adds up to a release that really has me excited to hear what the full album is going to be like. I can’t wait to find out what other tricks they have up their sleeves, and I can’t wait to hear more of Claire’s vocals, and Cameron’s guitar work.