My most anticipated release of the year 2004 has arrived. Dear friends, excuse me while I switch into fanboy mode.

WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright, got that out of my system. It was around the middle of last year when I first got hooked on the music of Vienna Teng. Despite only having one album out, the young piano-playing songstress left her mark swiftly and effortlessly, thanks to the poetic, often melancholy, and melodically rich collection of songs that made up Waking Hour. I can't honestly recall the last time when I had been so excited about a new artist that I just knew their sophomore effort wouldn't be a letdown, and that I anxiously counted the days until its release months ahead of time. (Jars of Clay was probably the last occurrence back in 1997, though there have been a few other amazing new artists who never followed up with another album.) At last, February 24th arrived, and before the day was out, I had claimed my copy of Warm Strangers from Tower Records. I was mildly perturbed about getting charged $17.99 for the album when their website had advertised her as their featured artist on sale, but nothing could dampen my excitement as I popped this baby into my CD drive and took in the new collection of songs. This was Vienna, after all. $20 would even have been worthwhile if spent on her.

If you haven't been blessed by the presence of Vienna's songs coming through your speakers yet, I suppose I could aptly describe her as a cross between the soothing melodic crooning of Sarah MacLachlan, the compositional quirkiness of Tori Amos, and perhaps a little bit of the brooding spirituality of Evanescence (but no crunchy guitars). But it would be better if you just went to Vienna's website (http://www.viennateng.com) and poked around for free downloads in her "Discography" section. If you're at all enchanted by the song samples found within, then I can promise you the full albums won't disappoint. A former computer programmer turned singer/songwriter, Vienna is one of those artists who isn't content to rest on her creative laurels, constantly seeking subtle but effective ways to challenge her own methods. Sometimes this comes to the forefront in the form of a song that started out being about a humdrum event in her life, but grew to encompass an intriguing fictional story. Sometimes it's an exercise in writing from the point of view of a friend or lover. Sometimes it's the natural curiosity of a composer with a clear love for music theory, one who isn't happy always sticking to the same rhythm or staying in the same key. I don't know about you, but that sort of thinking outside the box makes me feel all giddy inside, as if I've just been reacquainted with the sister I never had.

Even more so than Vienna's first effort, Warm Strangers seems to be an ironic collision of relaxing music and a restless spirit. While Waking Hour holds an extremely special place in my heart and it might still be the stronger of the two albums, that's only true by a matter of small degrees. Warm Strangers seeks to move upward and outward, choosing a wider array of instrumental ideas to accompany Vienna's voice and piano, and her observations and questions seem to have followed suit, reaching into areas that her first album only skirted the boundaries of. At times this means more folk influence, or a more upbeat rhythm, or more sparse piano playing where Vienna could be furiously banging away at the keys... mood frequently wins out over pure performance. To put it another way, Vienna knows when to go for the throat and when to restrain herself. And that creates a number of emotional high points, both at the loudest and quietest moments of the album.

While Vienna has said that Warm Strangers wasn't meant to be a concept album, its title does seem to refer to an overall theme in Vienna's writing - that people she hardly knows, or people she makes up in her mind, can have interesting stories to tell that show us truth, or at least remind us of truth that we once knew but had forgotten, in unexpected ways. Whether each individual song is about a person who never existed, or whether it's about Vienna herself, a great deal of the lyrics on this album seem to deal with individuals who are yearning for answers, who are trying to figure out what they believe. It's a daring theme for an artist who doesn't appear to claim a particular system of religious belief to visit again and again in her songs. But perhaps it's not entirely a religious matter. Whatever the case, it's a captivating collection - incredibly soothing, but not without its more unsettling moments.

Feather Moon
Seven sins, god of stone
All is true down to the bone...
Unlike the tense and immediate introduction that "The Tower" gave us, Vienna opts to open her album with a fragile tune, fading in with faint, twisted strings and isolated, high-end piano chords that float through the speakers like ripples on a darkened lake. There's an eerie feeling throughout the song, especially when Vienna begins to sing and her piano drops away, leaving her cold and naked in the darkness. Her verses are made up of short, carefully enunciated phrases, which amount to one of the most abstract songs she's ever composed. It is only the repeated mantra "Breathe in, breathe out, exhale, inhale" that provides any sense of familiarity and refuge amidst the darkness. This nervous chorus continues to swell as the song moves forward, incorporating lush background vocals until it surrounds the listener like a darkened womb. It all seems like a window into the painstaking process of a songwriter giving birth to her art. At times it's so quiet that it's frustrating, and yet it needs to be just so to make the impression that it desires to make. As the song ends on the last "exhale", it reminds me very much of how Vienna was left cold and alone at the end of "The Tower".

Harbor
Fear is the brightest of signs
The shape of the boundary you leave behind
So sing all your questions to sleep
The answers are out there in the drowning deep...
After such an introduction, it would seem almost insensitive to shift so suddenly into an upbeat and happy song, especially since Vienna doesn't do those very often to begin with. But here, she turns out a cheerful, and dare I say radio-friendly love song with style and grace. OK, so the radio-friendly thing might be a bit of a stretch when you consider that the majority of the song is played in 5/4 time. And that's the part that I can figure out. The chorus is extremely baffling and yet extremely catchy and easy to sing along to. And from there, Vienna segues into a lovely bridge where she hammers out an off-kilter piano solo in Lord-knows-what time. Still, the part that jumps out at me the most is the intro and verse melody, which is built off of an instrumental that she had composed for Waking Hour and later shelved. It just rolls through the speakers so effortlessly. Vienna has mentioned that the song was written about someone that she is in love with, who is supportive of her as a touring artists, and I guess that inspired the metaphor of a harbor being always there as a safe place of refuge when needed. "Sail your sea, meet your storm, all I want is to be your harbor". It's really a sweet song, on par with "Eric's Song" but even more intricate.

Hope on Fire
You're a one-man shift in the weather
You're the woman who just won't sell
Climbing up and ringing the bell...
Now I really wasn't expecting Vienna to ever get this upbeat. I figured "Unwritten Letter #1" was about her speed limit, but the fast-paced drumming and deft bass playing that lead this song off are certainly a curious departure. Fortunately, being upbeat doesn't mean that Vienna has written an inane pop song - she still manages to accompany the galloping rhythm with a tense melody and an intriguing lyrics about a person who seems to be battling some inner demons, or perhaps some other people's misconceptions of them. The person seems almost self-destructive, looking for a reason to let go of all they've dreamed of and set it ablaze, but Vienna urges this person to hold on. It's noticeable that Vienna's vocals have gotten stronger and fuller since the last album was recorded (lessons'll do you good sometimes!), so when she sings in a thin, half-whispered tone during the bridge, you know that there's a reason for it instead of wondering if this was just a poor vocal take. Something about the song seems to require a moment of being out of breath and struggling to keep up. The ending is unexpected, too - the song gets quieter and quieter, as if fading out, and then all of the instruments resolve on a single, simultaneous note. It's a well-crafted piece that expands Vienna's horizons in a way that I might not have expected to work had I known about it ahead of time.

Shine
On this harbor shore we hear the ocean call
In our minds at war we have so far to go...
Strangely enough, the first "normal" ballad on this project is actually the shortest track, weighing in at about two and a half minutes. It's a gentle and encouraging number, taking on a vaguely spiritual air as it exhorts the listener to "Shine with all the untold/Hold the light given unto you". Due to that and the more "plain" melody of the song, it reminds me of "Soon Love Soon" minus the call and response, and since there are a few moments where the song's straightforward rhythm seems to stumble a bit, I have to admit it's not one of my favorites. However, Vienna sings some lovely high notes on this one - it's definitely a showcase for her heavenly voice.

Mission Street
My hands are cold tonight
But the sky is bright with stars
And I'm tearing through the veil that keeps me blind...
There's a reason why you generally hear more young singer/songwriters who can play the acoustic guitar than the ones who can play the piano. The guitar is simply more portable. And it seems that Vienna got bit by the guitar bug on this one - it was initially composed during a sleepless night not long after she moved into a new apartment in San Francisco. I guess she picked up a guitar (it being the first instrument available) and just started picking out chords, and came up with a song about her new home and what she was learning by being all alone there. Now I don't know about you, but when I pick up a guitar and randomly start playing, the first two chords I come up with aren't D major seventh and G minor. Those two chords comprise most of the verses, and it's a delectable progression, picked out gently as the busy street hums faintly behind her, a mariachi trumpet breaking through the veil and adding quite a bit of flavor to the already gorgeous ballad. Like "Feather Moon", the entire song is very fragile, but instead of being shrouded in darkness, this song seems to depict the wide-eyed wonder of a woman discovering herself through all of the mistakes she has made - "It seems the more I'm wrong, the more that I am right." Vienna claims not to be a very good guitar player, and it's probably due to that that someone else is credited with "guitar editing" in the liner notes - they also went to the trouble of crediting the drummer for making coffee maker noises! Vienna and her band are nothing if not detailed.

My Medea
So come to me, my love
I'll tap into your strength and drain it dry
Can never have enough
For you, I'd burn the length and breadth of sky...
Another rolling piano line anchors this song, and it seems rhythmically tricky at first, just as "Gravity" did on the last album, but it turns out to be in 4/4. Out of everything on this album, this song appears to be the most "vintage Vienna" of them all - the melodic effect is like taking "The Tower", "Gravity", and "Drought" and rolling them all into one. The swelling of drums on the second verse only adds to this nostalgic feeling - this song could have easily found a home on Waking Hour, except that it does it one better by adding in the metallic clang of what's known as a "prepared piano". (Any John Cage enthusiasts out there?) The feeling is akin to being lost in a maze, so it's fitting that the first line of the song is "Inside the labyrinth walls". If that and the title seem to hint at Greek mythology, then you're on the right track. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines Medea as "an enchantress noted in Greek mythology for helping Jason gain the Golden Fleece and for repeatedly resorting to murder to gain her ends". Creepy, huh? Vienna's song captures that feeling quite well. It's the quintessential obsessive love song, right up there with Sarah MacLachlan's "Possession". Whether there's a real-life story behind it, I can't say... but if there is, I'd have to say that would worry me ever so slightly!

Shasta (Carrie's Song)
Were you the hero or the worst kind of coward back there
Putting pavement back under your feet...
One of Vienna's most well-crafted and surprising songs is up next, telling the story of a young woman with an unwanted pregnancy. While you might expect such a song to be a slow, moody tear-jerker, it's actually a bit rushed and frenzied, with the melody sounding almost cheery and Vienna singing quickly as if to reflect all of the busybody things that this woman has to do after she gets back from her trip to the abortion clinic. It's an event in life that you wouldn't expect to be handled so casually... but wait. Did she actually go through with it? It's hard to tell. One particularly surprising verse describes the woman running into a "nice Christian lady" who of course wants to talk her out of having the abortion. And the next thing you know, she's driving home with all of these thoughts in her head about whether she did the right thing. I think the song is trying to communicate that she didn't do it, though Vienna has this funny way of being vague to the point where the song could be interpreted either way. In the hands of another songwriter, this could end up being a big mess, but Vienna handles it deftly with her little word pictures. The line about "ghosts with a negative age" is especially striking. And then you've got a trumpet breaking through (again) and the drums going double-time at different points during the song, and you have to wonder how on Earth she managed to make this all work together. However you slice it, this will likely be one of the most talked about songs on the record.

Homecoming (Walter's Song)
But things are good, I've got a lot of followers of my faith
I've got a whole congregation living in my head these days...
While the tempo slows down a bit for this relaxed, country-inflected song, it's easy to tell that this pair of stories is intended to be linked, due to the way the piano doesn't come to a full stop in between and due to the subtitles. Apparently the two songs were formed independently, but Vienna got the notion after writing about a lonesome man driving around the country that he could be the long-lost boyfriend of the pregnant girl. And so we get a sort of mini-concept album smack in the middle. While this song seems a bit slow and tedious to me at times, I do enjoy hearing what Vienna sounds like with a slide guitar and a more organic mix of sounds in general, and the story is an interesting one, with the man looking back on past loves and old regrets as he spends another night alone in a motel room. A vulnerable moment even finds him investigating the Bible in his drawer and admitting, though he's never believed in God, that "Tonight I'll give Him the benefit of the doubt". (A surprising turn, coming from the pen of a woman who once alluded to "The God upstairs that I couldn't believe".) All of this takes place as the man realizes that he's on his way to a home that he perhaps hasn't been to in a very long time. Over the Rhine fans will probably appreciate this one.

Anna Rose
Time to close your wondering eyes
Where I see the sleepiness creeping...
I'm not sure if this swaying, string-swept ballad is intended to be related to the two preceding stories, but placed as it is, it would be easy to take it as a lullabye to a newborn baby, the child of the estranged couple that the mother decided not to abort after all. Though Vienna is not a mother yet, she certainly has a way with words when describing the beauty she sees in this small, imaginative child (I believe there was a child by this name in real life whose parents were friends of hers or something like that). The song doesn't seem quite complete, especially when the lovely strings fade into silence where one would expect a bridge and then a crescendo, but if you're looking for a sequel of sorts to "Lullabye for a Stormy Night", this one will do quite nicely.

Passage
My sister shouts to let her see
Through the cloud of crowd surrounding me
My colleagues call for silence in my name...
Nothing could have prepared me for this song. Nothing. As Vienna's bare voice cried out the first few words of this solemn eulogy, with nothing to back her up but the ambient, barely audible sounds of nature and distant cars on a highway, I had no choice but to stop all that I was doing and hang upon her every word. Yeah folks, it's a tear-jerker. I don't want to ruin it for you, but suffice to say it's a song about the untimely passing of a young individual, and the way the rest of the world remembers, or fails to remember, this person in their absence. It's absolutely devastating, and absolutely amazing. The lyrics aren't printed in the booklet, and for good reason. You just have to listen to it to understand what I mean. The hidden track from Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill ain't got nothing on this one.

The Atheist Christmas Carol
It's the season of possible miracle cures
Where hope is currency and death is not the last unknown
Where time begins to fade and age is welcome home...
Admittedly I was a little apprehensive about the title, since there were a few moments where she seemed to allude to not believing in God on Waking Hour, and I figured this would be the song where she spelled it out for us. That, and I'm not a huge fan of most modern Christmas songs, especially when they show up out of place on non-seasonal albums. Vienna's angle here is a pretty good one, though - she sings from the point of view of someone who simply wants to take part in the holiday festivities. The song actually has a very soft, romantic tone to it, as if seeking to give a voice the ghost from "Passage" by softly singing, "Don't forget, don't forget, I love, I love, I love you." While that's a simple chorus, it plays out quite well in the context of the song, which describes the curious benevolence that people seem to adopt around that time of year. Much like "Soon Love Soon" (funny that it's also placed at track 11!), the song seeks to be a sort of non-specific spiritual, and does so in a respectful way that people like me who do believe in God can relate to wholeheartedly. Good job, Vienna. You surpassed my expectations on this one.

Green Island Serenade
The first few seconds of delicate piano in the album's hidden track reminded me of "Silent Night" - probably because I was in Christmas carol mode at that point the first time through. However, Vienna is instead offering her take on a traditional song from an entirely different part of the world. She chooses to honor her Chinese heritage by singing a song in Mandarin, and while I don't understand a word of it, it's still quite a treat. Not many artists can pull surprise after surprise on a record and maintain it all the way to the end, but Vienna gracefully crosses the finish line with this one, having never missed an opportunity to keep me guessing.

I guess it's clear from my gushing that I love this record through and through - even in its weaker spots - and that it will probably be one of my favorites of 2004 when the year is finished. Vienna has done exactly what a good artist should do with a sophomore album - she's given us a body of work that is true to who she is, and that shows growth without completely abandoning what we already knew of her. It's new and different, and yet it's comfortable. Due to some of the more startling songs like "Passage" and "Shasta", this one might not work as well for romantic evenings as the previous record, but then I don't think Vienna ever intended for her songs to be relegated to the background anyway. It's one of those records you just have to immerse yourself in. And in the end, you might just find that the strangers in these songs, perhaps including Vienna herself, are a lot like people you've known all your life.

ALBUM WORTH:
Feather Moon $1.50
Harbor $2
Hope on Fire $2
Shine $1
Mission Street $2
My Medea $2
Shasta (Carrie's Song) $2
Homecoming $1
Anna Rose $1
Passage $2
The Atheist Christmas Carol $1
Green Island Serenade $1.50
TOTAL: $19

CONCLUSION: One of the few CD's that's actually worth its list price plus tax.

Website: http://www.viennateng.com (remember, free mp3's - go get 'em!)

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening