Seeing Glass: A Quick Review Of The New Album From Tara Jane O'Neil (Ex-Rodan, Retsin, The Sonora Pine)

The enigmatic Tara Jane O'Neil returns today with a work that is both straightforward in its appeal, and nuanced in its mood. The Cool Cloud of Okayness finds the former Rodan member offering up tunes that are precisely rendered and deliberate in approach. There's emotion here, but there's also a more measured, graceful kind of indie pop that most of us may have been missing.

While the title cut is playful, the superb "Seeing Glass" loops around itself like some John Adams piece. Elsewhere, Tara's supple bass carries "Two Stones" forward as much as her voice does, while the expansive "Fresh End" expands the sound outward. It's on the superb "Glass Island" where the album really reaches a peak. The song, anchored by Tara's faraway vocals and nimble bass-work, proceeds along a sharply defined melodic path to the kind of muted expressiveness that marked the best records from Tara and her Louisville peers in decades past.

The addition of drummer Sheridan Riley (Alvvays) and guitarist Meg Duffy (Hand Habits) brings new flavors to Tara Jane O'Neil's art. Mastering by Warren Defever (His Name Is Alive, Infinite River) keeps the overall sound of the whole enterprise simultaneously sharp and otherworldly. This is a record of mood, but also one of a nearly jazz-like sense of playing, or of how instruments interact in a mix. The Cool Cloud of Okayness stands admirably next to Tara Jane O'Neil's best work. It's maybe more accessible, but she's sacrificed none of her nuanced approach for this, only refined it.

The Cool Cloud of Okayness by Tara Jane O'Neil is out today on Ordinal Records. Details below.

[Photo: Jmy Kidd]