It’s a common complaint from those who only rely on the streaming services for music discovery, at least if social media is to be believed: There’s nothing new and cool out there. They’re the ones that take a hands-off approach to the curation of their collections, of course, leaning on algorithms and playlists to unearth new finds. They’d do well to ditch automated exploration and do it themselves.
German singer-songwriter Lia L. Shoshann’s second album Josefin Sans, which is slated to hit the virtual racks on November 12, should appeal to anyone who enjoys such folk-flavored artists as Shawn Colvin, Dota Kehr, and KT Tunstall. Her warm vocals convey insightful lyrics that most will identify with, I think, while her melodies and rhythms ebb and flow beyond the confines of folk to embrace the blues and reggae.
The eight-track set opens with the yearning “Das Lied der Gleise,” which finds her singing in German at song’s start. One need not know the language to understand it, thanks in large part to her vocals, which radiate emotion, and a bluesy trumpet (courtesy of Luzie Micha) that blows in the distance. It’s about motion and memories, of standing on a train platform and hearing one’s past and future fly by with every locomotive. By the time she switches to English, it’s obvious: “Here is to you, my rolling heartbeat/Here is to you, my heart engine/Look how she steams….”
A reggae-styled rhythm accents “Angi,” about how her sexual orientation isn’t—as someone close to her apparently claimed—a phase. She is who she is and, as she should be, is proud of it. “The Meadow” seeks escape from life’s pressures in nature. “To Breathe,” meanwhile, opens with a guitar motif that reminds me of Simon & Garfunkel; the lyrics delve into the world of metaphor while mining for “the mind behind my name.”
“Blink 182” expands upon that theme; it’s not an homage to the pop-punk band, which were popular when she was a kid, but an excavation of her personal history in an attempt to figure out why she evolved as she has: “I’m not a good listener/And I can’t ask questions at all/But in my head there is your picture/And it’s starting to revolve/Around all the things I did/And didn’t do/And in the background there in music by Blink 182.”
“Lost” is a swinging good time, with Luzie Micha making like Herb Alpert while Shoshann sings about the unmoored feeling that’s part and parcel with falling in love. “Das Echo,” sung in German, is about how love’s reverberations remain with us long after the love has faded to black. Another German number, “Ahoi,” closes the set; it’s about the aftermath of a relationship and wanting to move on, but unsure as to how.
There’s much here to enjoy. Shoshann possesses one of those voices—like Colvin’s—that essentially bathes the soul in warmth, while the themes she tackles are eminently relatable. Most of us have navigated the deep waters that are love and heartbreak, after all, with those seas sometimes calm and other times rough. To turn a cliche on its head, it’s got a good beat and you can think to it.
The Old Grey Cat 