Suburban Nature

iTunes Review

Texan singer/songwriter Sarah Jaffe shares the same dusky vocal tones as Amber Webber of Black Mountain/Lightning Dust, with a delivery wavering between hushed melancholy and a vigorous, nimble falsetto. Following her excellent debut EP (Even Born Again, 2008), Suburban Nature is an impressive and quietly exhilarating full-length effort, showing a surprisingly mature musician with an affinity for understatement and simplicity. (Now in her early twenties, Jaffe wrote many of these tunes as a teenager.) Tracks like “Wreaking Havoc” or “Before You Go” could have been overdressed in strings or pianos, but Jaffe keeps it simple, with her acoustic guitar up front and center, playing support to her smart lyrics and heart wrenching vocals. Cellos are bowed ever so faintly; violins are gently strummed and plucked, drums stripped down to their critical essence. She chases notes like a fluttering starling on “Better Than Nothing,” coos a pop lullaby on “Vulnerable,” and works up a folky troubadour froth on “Clementine.” “Pretender” is an eerily beautiful song, one of many memorable moments here.