Kelli Scarr
Piece
(Silence Breaks)

Kelli Scarr’s debut album, Piece, is enchanting and beckons similar sounds of melancholy singer/songwriters like Neko Case and Joni Mitchell.  Listeners will most likely find themselves going back to specific tracks on the album, like “The Wonder” and “Driftwood,” instead of listening to the record as a whole.

We first heard of Scarr on the NPR music series, Project Song, where she was paired with Moby and the two were challenged to record a song in two days. Scarr is now setting out on her own with her debut album, and while there is no shortage of nostalgic well-written lyrics, something seems to fall short.

Scarr writes of love and loss in a way that makes you feel like someone else out there knows exactly how you feel. Nevertheless, the further you delve into the record, each song begins to sound like the last.

Scarr’s whimsical voice and sharp piano chords sound effortless and beautiful throughout , but it is the strength in her hard-hitting, bellowing roar in “Driftwood,” as she sings her ooh’s, ahh’s, and la’s in a sweet harmony, that makes your knees weak. If every song on the album sounded like it, Piece would be a classic.