Campbell: Tuned In: Spencer Day, Piers Faccini, Sally Shapiro

By Chuck Campbell (Contact)
Tuesday, September 8, 2009

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Spencer Day connects with finesse, authenticity

“VAGABOND,” Spencer Day (Concord Jazz)

Spencer Day is wholly derivative — think Harry Connick Jr. meets John Mayer — yet somehow he sounds fresh. Perhaps it’s just an illusion, the way his teen-like appearance belies the fact he’s in his early 30s. However it’s more likely that his appeal is maximized by his discretion.

The California-based singer/songwriter/pianist defies the oxymoronic implications of a “sincere crooner.” His extraordinary voice is custom-made to croon, but Day makes it seem genuine by holding off on the hammy style of delivery that typically undermines those with pipes like his. Only the occasional appearance of goofy backing vocals pulls his new “Vagabond” into cheesy territory.

Otherwise, the release is smooth, inviting and, best of all, provocative.

Although Day launches “Vagabond” with predictable romance on the rich-and-rhythmic, bittersweet “Till You Come to Me,” subsequent tracks prove him to be more of a sage and storyteller than a mere singer of love songs. He sings of outcasts and secrets on the dulcet “Everbody Knows (The Family Skeleton),” the mid-tempo “Joe” and the humbly soft title track. He looks at life from first-, second- and third-person perspectives, with such philosophy as his observation on the ethereal “Weeping Willow”: “There is so little time for sorrow when your life is just passing you by.” And he even dares to be naively idealistic on closer “Better Way.”

Musically, “Vagabond” is resplendent in flourishes — strings, acoustic guitar, swaggering jazz — but befitting the lyrics, the arrangements are thoughtful and tastefully done,

Day brings everything to the table without overindulging.

Rating (five possible): 4

Piers Faccini’s material takes gentle hold

“TWO GRAINS OF SAND,” Piers Faccini (tot Ou tard)

Piers Faccini has a voice for TV.

The singer-songwriter has an empathetic vocal — understated, but ripe with weight — that delivers the kind of emotional wallop that might go lacking if TV directors, writers and actors didn’t have music like Faccini’s to fill their own voids and manipulate audiences.

Earlier this year, songs from Faccini’s new “Two Grains of Sand” landed on “Grey’s Anatomy” (“A Storm Is Going to Come”) and “Without a Trace” (“The Wind That Blows”). Expect to hear more of his material on upcoming programs.

The performer, who’s half-Italian/half-English and was raised in France, has an American troubadour style to his music that draws on Americana and blues influences to diversify the folk foundation of “Two Grains of Sand.” As his lyrical and tonal elements fluctuate from breezy uplift to morose complexity, the international singer sounds like a hybrid of Paul Simon and Damien Rice.

Faccini grabs his audience with firm grace, his breathy voice sailing over the pretty melody of the endearing title-track opener. Evocative imagery helps “The Wind That Blows” billow from a humble start to a full-blown anthem, and the subsequent “A Home Away From Home” follows suit.

“Two Grains of Sand” doesn’t have a groundbreaking sound, but its approach is varied thanks to such nuance as distorted guitar (“To See Is to Believe”), propulsive cadence (“Your Name No More”) and the occasional use of cello. Meanwhile, Faccini swings the moods from the narcotic foreboding of “Strangers” (“Someone somewhere is wounded/Does anyone care at all?”) to the fluid hope of “Save a Place for Me” (“Wherever you are, save a place for me”) to the ominous anger of “A Storm Is Going to Come” (“I never thought it’d come to this/Paradise razed to the ground”).

Yet beautiful though it often is, “Two Grains of Sand” rarely brings it all the way home. Luckily for Faccini, those TV shows are adding depth to his context just as he adds depth to theirs.

Rating: 3-1/2

Sally Shapiro’s guilty of persistent pleasure

“MY GUILTY PLEASURE,” Sally Shapiro (Paper Bag)

The only thing unclear about Sally Shapiro is what’s up with the name.

“Sally Shapiro” is the moniker of the Swedish duo, which consists of producer Johan Agebjorn and the vocalist, who also goes by “Sally Shapiro,” though it’s just a pseudonym and her real name is kept under wraps.

The duo’s music is less mysterious. Its 2007 release “Disco Romance” was self-explanatory from its title, and the new “My Guilty Pleasure” is more of the same, complete with a dreamy face spread across the cover.

“My Guilty Pleasure” is so focused, its nine tracks all sound like remixes of the same song. Sally Shapiro resurrects early European electronica (Italo-disco) and streams it into a rhythmic netherworld of ecstatic riffs and blissful vocals. It’s pretty as can be, even if the concept is barely tweaked from cut to cut.

The act (and electro extremists) might argue that the distinguishing points are profound, but to the layperson, it might only seem that the vocalist is a bit more rushed in the surreal swells of “My Fantasy,” a bit more robotic on the glossy “Moonlight Dance.” Perhaps listeners will note the more ginger tone of “Looking at the Stars” compared to the full-blown roll of “Save Your Love” or the slapping background of “Let It Show” versus the florid sway of “Miracle.”

Yet others will hear this chilly/sweet release and think it unvaried. And as long as they like it, that’s OK.

Rating: 3-1/2

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