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Describing the mélange that is the Ember Swift Band's seventh album as eclectic is almost an understatement due the aural rush of styles and influences greeting listeners. Stiltwalking is a mosaic of eleven tracks with lyrical content ranging from playful, witty ditties to poetic sociopolitical commentary and spoken word. To virgin listeners of the Toronto-based indie band, this multifariousness might throw you for a loop. For long time fans of the group however, this self-described "hyphenated-style" comes as no surprise. The trio includes Ember Swift (lead vocals, guitar and percussion), Lyndell Montgomery (violin, bass guitar and spoken word) and Michelle Josef (drums). (Michelle is not on the band's current tour.)
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bandmates Ember and Lyndell
pix by Suzy Malik |
Listening to the album is almost like going to a post-modern circus of sound with some politics thrown in the mix. You don't know what's going to happen next. You just know it probably won't be anything like the last act.
The band, which makes no bones about their "personal is political" take on life affirms that stance right away with the first song, "Include my food," a strident critique of consumerism, the mass-market food industry and global capitalism. It is set to a deep funky bassline joined with a seemingly psychedelic whirlwind of sounds and effects.
And then surprise, a few songs later after a "50's do warp" and a "wobbly circus funk jam," the reggae-like groove "Rubber Bullets" builds on the tradition of the father of conscious dub poetry, Linton Kwesi Johnson, in condemning the tactics of Canadian police towards demonstrators. Flipping the script, "Lick My Lips" then shifts the mood as Ember's silken voice glides in a kd langesque torch song.
With "Boinked (the bride)" the band is off again in another direction with a laugh out loud tune about a lesbian attending the straight wedding of a former lover. This song is so funny, any lesbian who has been through a similar experience will probably press repeat just to laugh again at an increasingly familiar situation so many dykes experience when they hit those late 20s and early 30s and ex or two (hopefully no more than that) suddenly decides to get married yet insists that their former female lovers attend the wedding.
Spin the bottle and you land in the world of spoken word with "Competing? you choose," a jazzified warning about the follies of unexamined competition in society at large. Another standout, "Tram #86" begins with the always impressive violin playing of Lyndell. It is a travel song with the delivery of a lamenting ballad. It somehow segues into "Slipping to my knees," a percussion-based tune in which Michelle Josef and Ember display their deft percussion skills.
Fans of the group will certainly get their money's worth in buying this album because the best has yet to come. "The Underwear Song" is a playful tale of a classic urban twentysomething dilemma: what to do when all your laundry is dirty and you have no quarters for the Laundromat and hence no clean underwear. It is accompanied by the music of the Roma (aka Gypsies) with Lyndell channeling the spirit of Stéphane Grapelli. The next thing you know, a transition has occurred and the extraordinary voice you were listening to has been joined by two others in the background as a stunning and haunting song begins. "When a Gypsy makes her violin cry" really does sound like what the CD cover describes it as, a "forlorn hymnal vocal release." And those two voices in the background are none other than Ember's mother and maternal grandmother.
The danger in combining such a wide range of styles in one album is that the mix might come off at best as kitschy or worse, just plain gimmicky and haphazard. For the most part, the Ember Swift Band manages to overcome that potential pitfall with strong lyrics and superb musicianship. However, the weaker songs including the title track Stiltwalking suffer from the ambitious efforts of trying to meld too many seemingly incongruous elements. Yet, unfettered ambition, whether or not it works even for the even band's less than stellar efforts still makes for songs a hell of a lot better than the overwhelming majority of what is heard on pop radio where the most cutting-edge musical move is Missy Elliot rapping backwards.
The Ember Swift Band will be playing at the Heartland Cafe, 7000 N. Glenwood Ave., on Saturday, Dec 14. Check out Ember Swift and purchase her CD's at http://www.Emberswift.com/
You can also read an interview diva conducted with Ember Swift.
Cheryl Coward http://cherylcoward.com is a Chicago-based freelance writer and novelist. Her work has been published in such publications as the Chicago Tribune, the Village Voice, Essence and Black Enterprise.
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