Sounds like…
Acoustic singer-songwriter gold
The review
If you are able to create music from a simple melody and a gentle voice, sometimes keeping it simple is the way to go. Andrea Von Kampen makes a great case for this with her album ‘That Spell’. The largely acoustic folk music may have a tinge of country, blues and chamber pop infused into it, but the music is always distilled down to a simple core.
Weilding her acoustic guitar and a voice that would suit most folk songs to perfection, Andrea’s music is both unrushed but fleeting. There is rarely a point where things meander and the riffs, melodies and vocal hooks feel more structured to a pop song. It is also an uplifting album in many ways. Tracks like ‘That Spell’ speak of women holding the keys to the future. ‘Water Flowing Downward’ is a personal favourite and speaks of the call of home. Homely is a vibe that the album gives be it in the vocal brushstrokes of light melodies in the track ‘Magdalene’ or in something more rootsy like ‘Celilo’.
A couple of songs stray away into more bluesy and heavy country music and whilst that gives the album a bit more colour, they were often the slower tracks with a bigger band effort. They made less of an immediate impact on me as a listener because the acoustic music is so fluid and free-flowing. One of the albums best strengths is how Andrea can make her voice glide effortlessly like a folk classic whilst letting the acoustic instruments pick up the heavy lifting melodically and percussively. It gives you that serene vibe as the world passes you by.
What excites me most is that the songs that showcase her slight change in direction towards pastel folk are the ones that I connected with most. Andrea Von Kampen is a very talented musician and songwriter. I’m looking forward to more albums that feel like they’ve been staples for years from her in the future. This is an idyllic oasis of calm.
Recommended track: That Spell
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Andrea von Kampen - That Spell