Songwriter/singer Kat Quinn has a wonderfully compact 4 song E.P. entitled EXHALE now in release. It is a refreshing blend of melody, inspired words and a sincere and impressive voice communicating her ideas.
“What Love Feels Like” starts things off, and it is simply amazing, drenched in the superb production work of master craftsman Peter Calo. Go back over previous reviews of mine, this writer is not prone to hyperbole unless something reaches into the ether and comes up with a surprise, and the surprise is here. Special sounds are what the audience is seeking in 2012, new sounds to dazzle – and the mix of fluke (a ukulele) of Kat’s along with a dizzying array of instruments Calo provides – acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, keyboards, percussion, Viola de Terra (a stringed instrument from the Portuguese islands of The Azores,) lap steel, dulcimer, bass and drum programming, it is a stunning mix.
“Waiting To Exhale” with its ghostly voices at the end is a quick change of pace, mellow but moving followed by “Coffee Shop Song”, perhaps an answer to Harriet Schock’s “Starbucks”, low-key, though, not as “swinging” as Harriet’s song’s been called. The musing over a guy and wondering if he has a wife is longing where Janis Ian’s “In The Winter” had her declare in anger “You have a lovely wife” over an ex she is venting over. “So Damn Cute” could even be a sequel to “Coffee Shop Song”, an uptempo ditty which ends the quick four song escapade that makes up the 4 song Exhale CD. Everything is Grade A on this classy and smart outing, Calo’s production skills simply outstanding. The guy’s a monster that improves like fine wine. Four stars.
Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He was a film critic for Al Aronowitz’s The Blacklisted Journal, has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com and produces and hosts Visual Radio. Visual Radio is a fifteen year old variety show on cable TV which has interviewed John Lennon’s Uncle Charlie, Margaret Cho, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Felix Cavaliere, Marty Balin, Bill Press and hundreds of other personalities.
