Broken Symmetry
© Copyright-Stacy Kray
(656613706923)
Record Label: Stacy Kray
No items available in your wishlist
Stacy Kray is a San Francisco-based singer/songwriter.
Broken Symmetry, released in April 2002, is her first recording.
WEST COAST PERFORMER MAGAZINE REVIEW, JUNE, 2002
Reviewer -Sherry Sly
Mature is the best way to describe Stacy Kray's sound. Not mature in an "adult contemporary" way, but in a "been there, done that and have something new to say and a new way to say it" way. Think Lucinda Williams without the twang. With Broken Symmetry, her 12-song debut, Kray performs a musical hat trick: Accomplished musicianship, originality, and accessibility. Kray's voice is unique without being quirky and technically beautiful yet never showy. Think Portishead or Cowboy Junkies with more resonance. Her controlled voice, trailing guitar work and sparse use of additional instruments and back up vocals lend Broken Symmetry a restrained, yet full sound, creating a subtle unifying theme of quiet confidence. This quiet confidence gives Broken Symmetry a cohesive sound, but it is far from monotonous. Her songs range stylistically from the Kurt Weilesque "Neverland" to the PJ Harvey inspired "Sirens" to "Saboteur," a droney ballad that could have been written in Nick Cave's, well, cave. Every song is strong, with vocals, musicianship and lyrics that feel perfectly balanced, yet have plenty of character. Such a feat is rare in general, let alone in a do it yourself debut. Broken Symmetry skips many a DIY pitfall, with its professional look and sound and the sense that the music was never compromised for the performer's ego. The songs are catchy, yet the lyrics tell stories via colorful metaphors that stop short of clever and often take a few listens to fully grasp. Think Dar Williams without the folk, Ani Difranco without the anger, or Tori Amos only less elfin creature from another planet. The theme of quiet confidence is threaded throughout the lyrics culminating in "Neverland,", where Kray makes the reviewer's job easy and sums up her own album perfectly singing: "You changed your locks/found a girl/you were all done with me/But you'd bet get used to me as company/I'll be haunting you from inside your blood/First a trickle, but then a widow's flood." Listen to Broken Symmetry twice and two days later you'll find yourself unconsciously humming the verse from the "Red Room:" "Vanity's high in the red room/The blues turn shy in the red room," wondering how long it's been haunting you from the inside.
www.performermag.org
Read more...
Please
log in to review the album.
Kray's debut CD, Broken Symmetry, is an intriguing offering to be heard
author: Wendy E Sigler
With Stacy Kray’s aptly titled debut release, Broken Symmetry, Kray delivers her own brand of hypnotic harmony through a host of artfully balanced contradictions. It’s not your typical candy-coated, repetitious, perky pop package. But that’s not to say that the melodies won’t stay with you. In fact, they will haunt you. And although nothing cheap and contrived is shoved down your throat here, there’s no guarantee you won’t find yourself in the shower murmuring, “Inhibitions thaw in the red room….” The songs Kray serves up on Broken Symmetry don’t conform to convention in structure or style. Yet somehow, unassumingly, her deftly delivered strains seep under your skin. That’s no small feat from relative newcomer, Kray.
The moody, reflective undertone carried throughout her CD envelopes you like a thick flannel blanket on a damp, foggy day— warm, in the coolest possible way. In sharp contrast to her clear, unaffected voice are her lyrics, dense with meaning— thoughtful and often disturbing. Listen closely. Kray’s deconstruction of universal truths is laden with irony. Take, for instance, “Saboteur” which explores the push and pull of intimacy. “…But I’m a saboteur of love’s caress, savior of my loneliness…” Indeed, Kray wryly jokes that “One Of Us,” is the closest she’ll get to a love song. (Not a bad thing for anyone who has had their fill of the “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” genre.)
Though the infectious tracks on Broken Symmetry are not geared for the lightweight listener, they are nevertheless infinitely listen-able. Kray’s intelligence, both musically and lyrically, is abundantly evident. But there is nothing heavy-handed or inaccessible about it. With her lament to Sept. 11th, “They Traded the World,” (for which she was recently honored by the Northern California Songwriters’ Association) Kray showcases her ability to express gut-wrenching emotion with poignant subtlety. Once again, the perfect balance of opposing forces at work. Her sophisticated treatment of topics like suicide (“All That Remains”) shun sentimentality in favor of eerily rendered veracity. With entrancing tunes like, “My Tomorrow,” one can’t help but surrender to the soothing sounds of Kray’s authentic offering. She will leave you intoxicated by the potency of her music— and wanting for more. We can only hope that when she sings, “…for I will give you my tomorrow,” she really means it.
-Wendy Sigler
Read more...
Needs to be Heard
author: Stone Holmes
For a debut album, Stacy Kray's Broken Symmetry is a remarkably mature recording. Deftly combining sensuously melodic vocals with subtle percussion and warm guitar hooks, Symmetry evokes a lonely empathy reminiscent of a Chris Isaak lament, spiked with Suzanne Vega's clear eye for detail. Ms. Kray patiently reveals a gift for cryptic and literate storytelling, whether channeling Greek mythology (Sirens), Dostoyevsky (Notes for Liza), or Gershwin (The Man I Love). Yearning characters reveal their conflicts reluctantly over repeated listening, while intimate arrangements conserve the silence their stories break. Violin, keyboard, and even the sound of rainfall accentuate the acoustic guitar rythyms while her clear, haunting vocals stand out above the mix, framed periodically by shimmering harmonies.
One wonders how her characters got into all this mess, but their heartbreak is compelling. A real keeper.
Read more...
A spacious, dark, and seductive album. Get it.
author: Michael Gill
I had never heard Stacy Kray before and am very impressed with this CD. While her sound and compositions are, at times, reminiscent of the very best of a Suzanne Vega or Aimee Mann, Stacy has a unique voice -- spellbinding, seductive, edgy. The recordings on Broken Symmetry are artfully produced, and not over-produced. One can really get a feel for the sound of her voice, rather than those many singers who hide behind too many studio effects. She has a marvelous range, singing at times in a gritty sultry low voice and jumping suddenly into the stratosphere. The arrangements are minimalistic and very powerful. Impressive artist and project. I look forward to more.
Read more...