You know that feeling you get when Suzanne Vega starts singing "My Favorite Plum" and your heart leaps up and says "Me, pick me, let me be your favorite plum!" and you know of course that she's not really singing to you, that she doesn't know you and probably doesn't even care who you are, that you're just a lonely little human letting a lovely voice and a longing lyric take you away to another place that's maybe not happier than the one you're in now, but is certainly more passionate and mysterious, more velvet-lined, more infused with romance and danger and possibility? You know how that's a good feeling, even though on the surface maybe it seems a little desperate and probably a little sad? This CD is like that.
Aroah is based in Spain, but Irene Rodriguez Tremblay, the young, lovely-voiced woman behind the music, is American (I think). Her Vega-esque voice and simple guitar are backed up by generally subtle, nuanced bass, drums and occassional keyboards. The songs are melodic enough to catch your ear without really being poppy, and rely more on atmosphere than they do on hooks to keep you interested. Once that atmosphere is established, it's really Tremblay's voice and lyrics that make things happen.
Tremblay sings in both English and Spanish -- mostly English, though. Her songs touch on all the themes you might expect from a somewhat mopey twenty year old songwriter: loneliness, insecurity, sex, expectation, longing...they're all in there. But don't despair -- there's no whining here, no self-righteous complaints, no shrill accusations. Tremblay has a mellow, inviting way of letting you into her world, and it's an invitation that I find hard to resist. She doesn't seem to be bemoaning the state of her world as much as she's simply describing it, making songs out of the raw and confused and urgent feelings that are the inevitable result of being young and awake and alive.
Tremblay has a fine dramatic sense, a sweet, inviting presence and a killer voice. The English translation of this disc's title is: "When You Finish With Everything, It Will Have Finished With You". I don't think the world is finished with Ms. Tremblay quite yet.
