Girl at the Rock Shows

I get car sick super easily, but I am so anxious to check out AVR’s brand-new album ‘Salvation.’ I just can’t wait, so as my boyfriend drives and my best friend plays co-pilot on our way to Fargo, North Dakota, for a show and some hangs with a good friend, I find myself crammed in the back seat of my car writing this review. Honestly, I knew within the first couple of seconds of the opening track that it was well worth the uncomfortable setting.

This album kicks off with the dramatic “Acknowledgement: Stay Soft”. Although dramatic, this opening number is also truly beautiful. It showcases a sense of ambiance and restraint as eerie notes and even eerier vocals sweep through your ears. You can feel the song grow and grow, but you never quite know where it’s going, which adds to the magic that happens as the piano comes in and takes this track off to a more recognizable speed. Even when things start to “clear up,” as it were, there’s something highly creative and original about everything happening in this track.

The slight ambiance of the opening track leaks into “Confirm Humanity,” at the same time, the vibe completely shifts into something a bit more accessible and standard, but, again, I use those words loosely. I mean that there seems to be a bit more structure in this song, but the creativity still leaks from every beat in such a beautiful way. AVR’s vocals are truly stunning and grab you by the heart. When this happens, it’s easy to see that she will not let go of your heart any time soon. Complete with twinkle and sparkle, “Confirm Humanity” gave me such a gorgeous sense of peace and comfort.

“A Closer Touch, A Plan of Art” has commanding vocals, which is definitely a shift when compared to the previous two tracks, but it makes sense. I feel like as this song comes in, you see the trajectory of this album. Okay, maybe that’s just me, and I’m probably wrong with where I think this is going, but feeling like you may be able to guess what AVR does next adds a sense of thrill to an already thrilling listen. I really like the electronic elements that seem to be scattered within this track. Out of context, it may not make sense, but by this point in this album, you also get a feel for the creativity that AVR has, so it makes sense.

The vocals that kick off “SKIN” have an almost choral quality to them. It’s a little church choir with a serving of siren-like tones that instantly catch you before the song moves into something a wee bit more jazzy. The layering of this song is truly genius. Just when you think this song has hit the meat and potatoes, AVR adds another element on top of the already intertwining elements that make this song so stunning. Even with all of those layers, the vocals continue to be the highlight of this song as they dance around the walking bassline. A dance begins to happen between the male and female vocals as if mirroring the layering instrumentation. All in all, I found this to be an almost hypnotic track in all of the right ways, and it instantly became a favorite of mine.

“Falling High, Too Pretty To Brake” is another favorite of mine. There have been R&B undertones throughout this album thus far, and I love how they are brought to the forefront of this track. At the same time, there’s still that signature AVR move of layering. Sure, you could call this an R&B song, but at the same time, you would be remiss not to notice the interesting electronic influence that comes in and out throughout this track. On top of that, there’s still that slight feeling of ambiance throughout the song, creating a truly atmospheric song that will win your heart over instantly.

Personally, I suck at finding a balance between things. For me, it’s the balance between work and life, and that’s why I feel like “No Talent For Balance” hit me like a truck. From the words to the delivery, this song truly spoke to my soul. For me, the biggest standout moment in this song happened near the beginning. Right around the thirty-second mark, the vocals literally swirl around your head with the way they come in and out of speakers. I am currently jamming to this album with my headphones on, which magnified this effect, and I found myself going back to this small portion of this song multiple times just to experience the magnificent artistry before I could move on to “Interlude: Pianos in Heaven.”

As the title suggests, this seventh song is an interlude with more of an ambient vibe to it. Even though this is quite a bit spacier than the past few songs with a lo-fi click to it, I found myself completely possessed by this track and was almost a bit bummed as the album moved onto “Nous Aimons on 808PM”. That feeling of being bummed didn’t last long, though. “Nous Aimons on 808PM” feels like a collage of sounds and feelings. Now that I say that, I feel like this is a good way to explain this album as a whole. At face value, the elements and layers that make up each of these songs really shouldn’t work together, yet AVR has patchworked them together in such a stunning way to create true pieces of art. This is clear with this song in particular.

I don’t think I have an “Anthem To My Fears,” but after hearing this track from AVR, I think I do. There’s a sense of frantic desperation and, well, fear in this track, but, at the same time, this is still a gorgeous song clearly done by AVR. I really like the horns that come in and out throughout this track. I also like the subtle haze that the brushes-on snare sound gives to the track. All of these things take a backseat to the vocals that, yet again, left me completely captivated. The jazz piano loop that happens throughout this track is not quite subtle but also not the main point of this track. With that being said, I found myself with this little lick stuck in my head almost instantly.

Although I love the vocals throughout this album (clearly), I really fell into the words of”Incomplete Systems” in a beautiful way. This song talks about how life changes nearly constantly, but at the end of the day, you can’t give up on your dreams or your passion. Okay, maybe that’s just how I’m reading the words of this track, but regardless of how you interpret them, the meaning of the words and the word choice in general in “Incomplete Systems” is something that will make you feel so much and, in the end, have you feeling like AVR really gets you because, at the end of the day, it’s as if you’re making a new best friend as you listen to AVR play through her life in this album.

As a pianist, I am a sucker for prominent piano, and that’s exactly what you get with “Honeys Of E.J..” This song somehow goes from an ode to Elton John to something a bit jazzier, reminding me slightly of Alicia Keys in the blink of an eye. Again, this is proof of AVR’s resistance to being put in a box. Call her R&B, call her jazz, call her electronic, call her experimental– you could call AVR a lot of things, but this song, like many of the previous, will leave you with only one word in your head, and that word is “genius.”

‘Salvation’ closes out with “Stars In The Room .”Although this song starts calm, cool, and collected, it shifts into a triumphant ending that makes sure that AVR’s name is not one that you will be forgetting anytime soon. This final song seems to show a more assertive side of AVR than the other tracks. I’m not sure if this is a sign of what’s to come, but regardless, sign me up for it. AVR has a sound and it’s a sound unlike anything else I have ever heard. I love that, even on this last track, she has kept me on the edge of my seat and absolutely lost for words.

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