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Written
by David Shouse, posted by blog admin
Kittens
Slay Dragons’ debut release, moreso than most albums, has an agenda. Sarah
Donner is the songwriting and vocal force driving the project and her passion
for animal rescue informs the creation of this release in a significant way.
The vocal pyrotechnics she summons for Big Big Heart’s ten songs underscores
her commitment to that practice and the electronica influenced arrangements
structuring the songs are warm, fluid, and play nicely to her strengths as a
singer. Kittens Slay Dragons features songs that have genuine substance and
never come off as preachy in anyway – Donner grounds her songwriting in
vulnerabilities and well-worded poetic flourishes that bring the subject matter
to life without any self-indulgence. Her collaborator on the project, $hClane!,
brings some distinctive percussion to these songs. There’s some organic
instrumentation on the album, but its presence is scant and, therefore, all the
more effective.
“Gatekeeper”
is a perfect choice for Big Big Heart’s opener. It’s interesting throughout the
release how Donner’s vividly emotional voice strikes a contrast with the
obviously processed sound of synthesizers and electronic bass/drums. Kittens
Slay Dragons never confine themselves to one particular sound template when it
comes to synths, but there’s an universally bright hue defining the sound of
Big Big Heart’s songs that Donner rarely deviates from. The exultant emotional
qualities of the material continue on the second song “Castiel” with a strong
concentration of synthesizers working through the song. Much of the album can
be divided into two distinct types of songs – there are more luxurious,
mid-tempo workouts with a focus on the vocals paired up against songs with an
emphasis on dynamics and intelligently orchestrated arrangements making the
most use of that as possible. “Smile Pretty” is one of the best examples of the
latter on Big Big Heart and Donner throws herself into it vocally with
eye-popping commitment. It’s one of the best songs on Big Big Heart.
“Love
Is Surgery” has uptempo energy unlike anything that’s come before on the album
and brings together the aforementioned two approaches into one song. Her
ability to bring dramatic and technically accomplished phrasing into a song
rich with dynamics makes this an impressive track from the first. The title
song moves its focus back to the atmospherics of earlier numbers, but her scope
expands here and there’s a feeling of more patient development shaping this
composition than we hear on earlier numbers. “Queer and Square”, like many
other songs on Big Big Heart, has an awesome chorus that should bring people to
their feet or otherwise tightly capture their attention. The rousing quality of
that moment is well nigh irresistible. She turns things in a more serious,
solemn direction with the song “Symbols in the Sky” and it’s a notable shift in
mood without ever taking the track listing and album as a whole completely off
track. The album’s second to last track, “Eggs”, is another high point on the
release and has a lot of melodic virtues while still demonstrating all the
quirkiness that comes with Donner’s individualistic approach. Kittens Slay
Dragons is, perhaps, a one off release, but let’s hope not. Sarah Donner has
found a potentially important new avenue for her tremendous creativity and
there simply isn’t a song on this album that misses.
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