"If you hate to say, you’d hate to say it / If you hate to say it you wouldn’t but you / Do it all the time, you say it all the time..."
The wagging emotional knives of "Hate To Say It" by Smithers, British Columbia singer-songwriter / multi-instrumentalist / keen observer of the human condition Naomi Kavka, are gleefully sharp, artfully beautiful and maybe even figuratively blood stained (nothing a good cleaning couldn't fix, to hide the D.N.A evidence and all). The song from the first dirty electric guitar shapes to the ramping down drum beats is perfect in every possible way. I love the cagey progs that to me feels kind of steeped in late 70's blues / jazz dipped art rock and Kavka's smartly biting acerbic relationship lyrics. What might be a dirty Fender Rhodes or something similar is amazing, the aforementioned guitar shapes are magnetic and the double lead break is insanely cool. In terms of the 70's touchstones, that may or may not really be there, but that I feel intensely, I am thinking of artists like Carly Simon, The Beatles, Rickie Lee Jones, Edward Bear, off the top of my head.
Lyrically, here is one of my favorite passages although they are all great:
If you hate to do it then you mother fucker why’d you do it
I can see through your weak handshake
Talking out of turn, a place that’s bought not earned
It’s how it feels when anybody’s talking about you and no ones talking to you"
LINER NOTES (bracketed):
[Kavka’s band, Geoff McFarlane (Handsome Eli) Ian Olmstead (Alex Cuba), Jake Jenne (Aerialists), and Jordy Walker, deftly support her as they perform deeply intimate, political, and cathartic songs. Brought together by soundscapes and comradery, they blend their backgrounds of jazz, classical music, folk traditions, and rock to communicate complex emotional landscapes. Their latest album "Then and Now" (June 2024) is a collection of 8 songs produced by Jordy Walker. Ranging from driving indie jams, melancholic ballads, snarky anthems, and art rock improvisations, "Then and Now" demonstrates Kavka's fearlessness and range as a performer and songwriter.]
The Official Video produced by Soniquinn Studios with assistance from Bulkley Valley Community Arts Council, Creative BC, and the Province of British Columbia is fun and compelling and Naomi Kavka leaves parts of herself on the studio floor (maybe the cutting room floor too).
-Robb Donker Curtius
+ + +
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.facebook.com/naomikavkamusic/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5y3m6A8TS5dwM4NKRIEHPP
https://naomikavka.bandcamp.com/album/then-and-now
https://www.instagram.com/naomi_kavka
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCABk9Vs7Qk5Af96MiWSO00A
Naomi Kavka is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Smithers, BC. A classically trained cellist, vocalist, and guitar player, Kavka brings a myriad of influences to her songs, forming a daring indie-rock sound that is musically polished, lyrically visceral, and emotionally raw. Her songs come from the unique perspective of a queer woman, a child of a refugee, a resident of the precipice of the wilderness of Canada.
No comments:
Post a Comment