by Les Reynolds
Multiheaded Heart CD Review
Right away, the incredibly crisp, clean and sharp sounds penetrate and Green's soprano-alto voice wafts over and around the lyrics. Right away, you know she's no ordinary folk singer, this is no ordinary CD.
Producer Mimi Fox has engineered a masterpiece. Built around the Berkeley, California singer-songwriter's silken vocals, piano and clever lyrics, she has assembled a top-notch core team: Marc Van Wageningen on bass; the percussion/drumming of Kelly Fastman, backing vocals from Helen Chaya and Fox's own amazing guitar licks.
Green herself has also created masterpieces with her words. Vivid imagery is used in descriptive, realistic slice-of-life vignettes. On one of the prettiest melodies ("Your Kitchen Table"), Green's piano-driven lyrics give a perfect example: "Your kitchen table is under the window yellow light on plums and apples Sometimes we sat there, the air carved our bodies out of space while you wished I were more powerful..."
or, from "Leather and Chrome," "I'm thinking of you flying, riding on your bike cutting through the blackness, flesh, leather and chrome I think of how well I fit in your clothes and I think of how well my hand fits in you."
No matter how the phrases are crafted, it's that voice and Mimi Fox's wonderful guitar that really ice the cake on this 10-song release. Green's comfortable as a singer. Her voice caresses and cradles her words -- and her sound caresses the listener's ears.
Overall, there are several great tunes: the opener "Pele's Body," the previously-mentioned "Kitchen Table," "Thinking Like This" (Mimi's guitar!!!!!!!) "Jumping Into the Sun," (one of the few up-tempo songs) and "Train" -- a slow, sensual, jazzy/bluesy bass-and piano-driven tune. Here, Green lets her voice go. "Oh do you see those birds a flyin' on the horizon, oh can't you see, can't you hear, can't you feel them weave and hum.." Her voice pushes the lines of music into the deep, feeling parts of your mind.
That's just what a great singer-songwriter does: not only make you hear, but make you desire and feel.