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2005-06-09 09:21:50 (link)
No musician is without influences. Listeners expect and enjoy hearing hints of other artists on records. When a musician exalts favorite artists to the point that his or her work lands miles from being an original statement, however, the record deteriorates into a tribute. Despite her obvious talent, Kate Earl has done just that with her debut, Fate is the Hunter - created a shrine to her musical influences rather than a distinctive album.
There is a glaring lack of wholly original-sounding tracks on the record. The Alaskan singer-songwriter sounds like a daintier Fiona Apple on some songs and like a less-articulate Joni Mitchell on others. “Someone to Love,” the opening track, sets the tone by sounding indistinguishable from Apple’s “When the Pawn…” These similarities invite comparison and it’s impossible not to notice how weak the album Coy
is when placed next to Mitchell’s or Apple’s more
ambitious work.
Earl’s lyrics are the first thing to fall short. The songstress hasn’t developed the same knack for infusing songs with depth and meaning as her idols, but then again, she’s holding herself to some very high standards. The lyrics on Fate is the Hunter are poetic, but disjointed. Only on a few songs does Earl move in a different, deeper direction instead of simply sticking nice-sounding phrases end to end.
Despite all this, it can’t be said that Earl’s songs aren’t beautiful or well crafted. Fate is the Hunter features excellent musicianship and Earl’s talent is indisputable. The mellow, piano-based arrangements blend nicely with Earl’s fluid upper register to create a low-impact, laid-back atmosphere.
Sadly, by trying so hard to recreate the spirit of her musical influences, Earl has drained her own songs of the very spark and originality she obviously admires so much. Next time around, Earl should stop trying to plagiarize others’ sounds and wasting her talent and create her own disctinct, exceptional sound.
Kate Earl
Fate is the Hunter
Record Collection
by Kristin V. Johnson
What Amazon Thinks of Fate is the Hunter
Sorry, no P.Fork or T.Mixtapes Reviews Available
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