Cheyenne Marie Mize - We Don't Need EP (2012)

I was trying to remember when I've heard of Louisville songstress Cheyenne Marie Mize when it dawned upon me: the sultry songtress is featured on Ben Sollee's Inclusions. Being associated with Sollee is a bit of a double-edged sword - the man's reputation as a dynamic innovator is approaching the stuff of legend so anyone associated with him might be regarded with the same expectations of inventiveness. Luckily for Mize, she lives up to the expectation.

On We Don't Need, Mize achieves in 6 songs what some artists fail to do in a whole album - create a collection of songs invigoratingly good and boldly unique while also fitting perfectly together. Cheyenne Marie Mize has a remarkable talent for balance - noisy without being deafening, spacious yet in no way lacking. Mize's also got considerable vocal chops - fiery in "Wishing Well" and "Keep It", silky smooth (and still a bit fiery) in "It Lingers", haunting and barely there in "Back Around". We Don't Need distinguishes Mize as a certifiable bad ass and yet not wholly without feeling. The girl rocks and while she doesn't exactly break the mold she sure does rough it up a bit.

Get a taste of Cheyenne Marie Mize with this live video for "Keep It":

Ben Sollee - Inclusions (2011)

When one of my friends at college would sing and play cello, I got super excited, thinking he's was reinventing the wheel. Fast forward to March when I was showed a video of Kentucky singer/songwriter and cellist Ben Sollee's "Embrace" and my mind was blown. Something about playing a string instrument (that's not the guitar or some variation thereof) and being able to sing too is fascinating to me. Probably because I play the violin and find the task of playing and singing virtually impossible. So the fact that Ben Sollee can do so while creating some of the most intricate and lush melodies. Add that to the fact that Sollee is one of those much-sought-but-surprising-hard-to-find genre-bending conquistadors and we'll it's not just a recipe for success but complete and utter domination of your heart and eardrums.

Sollee's latest album, Inclusions, is a bit different than the jazz/soul/bluegrass/folk influence of Learning to Bend in that it sheds some of the more poppy sound prevalent on the debut. Instead of filtering these influences through a pop lens, Sollee allows them to exist on their own. And yet, they all mesh together to make a juggernaut of an album. Inclusions is as varied as you can be without it seeming like a hodge-podge of tracks assembled with little thought. The albums tracks all blend into each other with ease, enabling the shocking realization that you sat down and listened to the whole album when you only meant to listen to a single track. Inclusions differs from its predecessor by featuring less of Sollee's dazzlingly complex pizzicato melodies and a much more extensive collection of instruments (like jazzy brass on "Bible Belt") and a diminished focus on the cello. It'd be downright infuriating if it didn't make the cello's return that much more rewarding ("Electrified").

Ultimately, Inclusions is a treat. I was tempted to compare it to Learning to Bend at first before I realized that it's essentially a totally different beast. The album is more mature in its approach and not afraid to be something less accessible than the debut. There's essentially less of mash up of Sollee's various influences and more of him synthesizing them to inform his work, rather than purely using them as a crutch.

Give Ben Sollee a listen with the music video that introduced me to him, "Embrace":

Embrace from Ben Sollee on Vimeo.