Regular Columnists

Artist: Lani Richards
Album: “the moment”
CD Review: Lani’s incredibly supple and silky voice, sophisticated arrangements, and excellent support players make this a very potent recording. She’s a versatile player of acoustic guitar, mandolin and electric guitar. That mix of instruments only gives you a hint about the variety of flavors in the music you get here.

The lyrics are like a brush stroke to help you through the rich landscape created by the musicians. Her voice and melody are the stars and I happily follow them through each song. Even “Ghost”, one of the most pared down songs instrumentally, is simply and still richly beautiful. She knows how to put the brush to the canvas and what amount to apply.

Please do NOT think I’m describing Enya territory here, but on many songs on the record there is a slightly meditative quality. They tend to create a mood and successfully suspend you there.

But she also knows how to get things stirred up. “Don’t go Down” is plea with a driving rhythm conveying the dark demons she is hoping to help someone ignore. On the very next rack “Homework” she gets downright bluesy and sassy. I love her voice and versatility on this song especially (It also is the only song on the CD written by someone other than Richards). Immediately following, “On the Edge” has a jazzy, even slightly latin feel to it. She successfully continues to show different facets throughout the CD.

Her voice has slightly different facets also, and that intrigues me – she’s part Christine McVie, part Beth Orton, part chocolate cello or something equally as smooth and satisfying.

Her support players on this CD are top notch. Their ability to know when to play and when not to play is a very big plus to the overall quality of the CD. “at the moment” wonderfully showcases a versatile writer and player with a gorgeous voice.

http://www.lanirichards.com