Rating: NNN
Holy cow, is this guy’s voice ever irritating. Now, the fact that I find him annoying may be a good omen for singer/songwriter Vivek Shraya. Alanis’s voice literally makes me cringe, and look how many records she’s sold. Beyond that, A Composite Of Straight Lines features some very compelling and individual song structures, expressive acoustic-guitar-based instrumentation, satisfying use of space and tempo and some rather special phrasing that includes a bizarre tendency to sing vowels with staccato divisions (i.e. “bigge-e-e-er” and “belie-eve”). Shraya’s also written some smart and poetic lyrics. Tegan Quin (of Tegan & Sara) adds vocals to one track, and this disc is dedicated to Ayn Rand for some reason. (Perhaps there’s a message I didn’t catch.)
Shraya plays Holy Joe’s Wednesday (October 26).