EP REVIEW: Lizzy Dutton and the breath and beauty of "amnesia" (EP)

 

"I'm afraid to love you / I'm afraid to love / living archetype..."

I love the sound of a picking guitar. In and of itself the instrument can tell a story that encompasses the full range of human emotions. Drop a violin in it's lap, especially small scale orchestrations built around one or two instruments and the emotional tapestry grows exponentially. The instruments amplify each other and even if the sound is ethereal you can feel that those sounds and emotions are hopelessly, wonderfully tethered to the earth in rustic ways. 

On the EP "Amnesia" by singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Lizzy Dutton, who with other musicians bring together violin, guitar, pedal steel and piano arrangements and craft diverse indie rock songs fleshed out over classic folk bones. Key to the depth of beauty and emotions is not only Lizzy's songs but her complex sonic countenance that moves you. Guitar, violin, piano are perfect instruments for a lullaby and "Amnesia's" first track is just that. 

"lullaby" (track 1) percolates, dances on guitar strings and endearing but sideways string arrangements. Lizzy's warm lead vox, supported by self harmonies seem to say goodbye at the very beginning . The second track "amnesia" with big tom tom drums fortified by bass lines, pedal steel guitar and strings plays like a pseudo country folk song and, like Guy Pearce in "Momento", Lizzy seems to have anterograde amnesia not able to hold onto the shortest memories. 

My favorite song on this EP is the lovely little stunner, "Living Archetype" that feels like a mid cross generational kind of psych folk / baroque pop affair like an amalgam of Mazzy Star, Tori Amos and Flo and the Machine. I absolutely adore the chord shapes, the plucking violin strings, the kind of interwoven dance of electric lead guitar and solo violin and, of course, Lizzy's emotional vocal aesthetic. 

"when summer ends" (track 4) might feel the most classic here, the circular patterns like bohemian folk on high supported by lush adult contemporary orchestrations. Track 5, "new mexico" feels classic too but in different ways. The wanderlust narratives that feel like memories on Polaroids with gardenrock gallops and the feeling of something lost, a love affair or something else made me think of Joni Mitchel. 

The final track, "human" starts with an acoustic that feels like it has metal strings and ambient sounds of waves lapping lazily on a coastline. As a gentle rhythm invades quietly with piano, more sounds and Lizzy's resonant vocals, the sense is both magical and somehow emotionally surreal. There are dashes of scattered piano like drunk fingers finding dissonant notes, a sort of dark but jazzy drum cadence, and growing, building ascensions, burning keys and drones of orchestrations. It is a wonderful way for the EP to play out. It is so lush and big like something from a red and pink lit Gene Kelly dance sequence in a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.  

Earlier I called out one song as my favorite but I have come to the conclusion that I was wrong, I have three. I get the feeling that if you listen to "amnesia" you will have at least that many. 

"amnesia" features:

Lizzy Dutton - vocals, electric guitar, violin

Kayla Zuskin - lead guitar
Mike Johnson - piano, bass

Jack Victor - drums 

-Robb Donker Curtius   

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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

https://lizzydutton.bandcamp.com/releases

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2PdZAItUvnnxuKv3IpIq4H

https://www.instagram.com/lizzyduttonmusic/

https://www.lizzydutton.com/

Lizzy lives in Oakland, California, where she spends most of her time teaching Algebra and Geometry at MetWest High School.

When the homework is turned in and night-time falls, Lizzy writes music.

Her EP, Amnesia, swells with violin, guitar, pedal steel, and piano arrangements that together create an autobiographical landscape of love, loss, and existential dread. In just six songs, you can hear Lizzy’s range of musical influences from her classical violin training as a child in New York State to the rich Folk and Americana traditions Lizzy witnessed as a teenager in Austin, Texas and bulk of her early twenties in Nashville, Tennessee.

Lizzy recorded and co-produced the EP with Mike Johnson and Kayla Zuskin in Asheville, North Carolina in Summer 2021.

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 Lizzy Dutton, Indie Rock, Emo, Alternative Rock, singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, Oakland, California, folk indie, indie pop, baroque pop, 60's 70's folk, chamber pop, "amnesia" EP,