Elizabeth Anka Vajagic - Stand With The Stillness Of This Day (2004) - Review

Elizabeth Anka Vajagic - Stand With The Stillness Of This Day (2004) - Cover

Sing along to the stillness (3/5)

I bought this one on the strength of the supporting players, knowing nothing of female singer songwriter whose album it is. Featuring members of GSYBE, Set Fire To Flames and The Shalabi Effect, the blurb on the Constellation described it as Gothic/Folk. I can't argue much with that summation of Elizabeth Anka Vajagic's music. The fact it was also on Constellation Records sold it.

Her vocals draw many comparisons and take on suprising intonations. At times there a bit Patti Smith or PJ Harvey, at others its almost Edith Piaf. Like the sullen statue on the cover there is something ghostly about this record.

The music is almost not there. When it is there it discordant and from left field, the rest of the time you don't notice it as the powerful and personal voice carries great swathes of the record. There are stunning moments of post-rock improve swirling quietly around in the background, but they come like shards of cracked glass, fragmented and gone before you've realised you stepped on them.

The songs range from long and rambling to concise and poetic. The strange mixture of styles and sounds come together best on And the Sky Lay Still, with its frittering guitars and gin-soaked throaty vocal. The opening track see's GSYBE's Efrim lending his creaking vocal support, and the effect is chilling, if all too brief.

There's a lot more traditional on the record than post-rock, but the balance works, if not all the time. One or two moments feel very similar and out stay their welcome, but when it works, it works well. This album has taken a long time to grow on me, and I'm still not there. Maybe I need to grow more...

David Lloyd © September 2004 - Originally written for DioBach.com

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