![]() ![]() ( Listen to the EP at Soundcloudīonsai record release show at NYC’s Rockwood Music Hall, 6/11/14. But Bonsai’s arresting arrangements and ear-pleasing embellishments are like icing atop a lovingly-crafted cake. As on her other LPs, Stevens’s singing is the main attraction. The playful, chugging “I Like You Man” (which recalls The Lemonheads’ “If I Could Talk I’d Tell You”) finds her smitten and energized about a new suitor with a stoic disposition and a strange best friend, while on the twangy, early-morning-misty “Messed Up,” she bravely bares a sullen soul scarred by a history of rocky relationships. Throughout, Stevens’s honest, open-book lyrics and wise, thoughtful words give glimpses into different sides of her cultured and congenial personality. And on the enchanting, island-flavored “I Fashion You’re A Dreamer,” you can almost envision hula dancers shimmying over weightless clouds, as her soft, Chrissie Hynde-like coo and a glistening, surf-like guitar waft seductively over balmy, dampened drums. Meanwhile, “When it Rains” contrasts Stevens’s resonant, echoed vocals and a steely, wind-chime guitar with submerged, skipping rhythms, bubbly synths, and shards of “Eleanor Rigby”-esque cello (or bowed bass, since no cellist is credited). On it, she likens her lover and herself to those strange-looking Japanese miniature trees: constantly needing care and attention. The opening “Bonsai Trees” combines a gentle, off-kilter acoustic and piano melody with clickety-clack percussion that mimics the inner mechanisms of an old grandfather clock. You could put your seeds into a damp paper towel until they sprout and then plant them or do something like this. But Bonsai’s music tones down the alt country/folk of past releases, in favor of dreamy mood-pop, with Molad’s plush production affectionately bathing the EP in a shrouded yet sonorous ambience. I did this a few years ago and Im about to finally start reaping my first ever bonsai grown by me. As before, Stevens’s thick, rich pipes still sound rustic and rootsy. (Not to mention the two times I saw her play live this year in Manhattan: a solo show at Pianos’ Upstairs Lounge, and Bonsai’s record release show at Rockwood Music Hall.) On her new group’s debut five-songer, Stevens is joined by her Right on Time partner Greg McMullen on guitar and pedal steel, along with Peter Lalish and Dan Molad of Brooklyn five-piece Lucius (though Bonsai’s officially a trio, with Stevens, McMullen, and Bryan Bisordi on drums). Play and download I Like You Man by Bonsai - and other songs including Bonsai Trees, When It Rains, I Fashion Youre a Dreamer. and Hawaii resident, now NYC-based songstress Simone Stevens has a sumptuous, sultry voice that immediately impresses – as I discovered on her superb 2011 solo LP Right on Time, and on the two albums she fronted as trio Fiery Blue (a long-distance collaboration with Austin, TX multi-instrumentalist Gabe Rhodes and San Diego, CA songwriter Paul Marsteller), 2010’s Our Secret and 2011’s Fiery Blue. ![]()
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