Vienna Teng's Warm Strangers earns well-deserved respect with delicate sounds, instrumental skill, and expressive literacy
Written: May 14 '04 (Updated Jun 01 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: Minimal instrumentation performing inventive, uncluttered music; easy on ears, clears mind for consideration of lyrics
Cons: Teng's somewhat airy voice seems thin in a few places where it could be stronger
The Bottom Line: Alone in the night as the daylight brings/A cool empty silence/The warmth of your hand and a cold grey sky/It fades to the distance... bonus points for first song ID!
bob_tomato's Full Review: Warm Strangers by Vienna Teng
-----a note to epinions.com regular readers-----
You're about to read my entry into MattA75's Fourth Annual I'll Show You Mine If You'll Show Me Yours write-off. (To see the complete list of entries, visit Matt's profile page). My partner for the write off is divad23, epinion's resident expert on contemporary Christian music (David waves off this label as somewhat misleading). I presented him with the challenge of reviewing one of the very first Christian rock albums to find nationwide acclaim, Love Song's eponymous 1972 debut album (though Love Song is interesting and fun to listen to, I think the album is somewhat amateurish, but it's fair to expect that from the first recordings of a new genre - make sure you read David's review!) David's task for me was to review a favorite new artist of his, Vienna Teng. Her sophomore album, the 2004 release Warm Strangers, is loaded with wonderful music, skilled instrumentation and smart lyrics. Any artist can instantly gain respect with me if they can manage the difficult trifecta of melody, musicianship, and message - Vienna Teng got my respect with my very first audition of Warm Strangers.
Melody
Vienna's tunes are quite melodic, often revealing her classical piano training begun at the age of five, and also showcasing the improvisational styles she began to favor in her teens and during her education at Stanford University. Today, at age 25, her style is somewhat reminiscent of George Winston, featuring flowing arpeggios that sometimes stray from the norm into the more esoteric territory of modern dissonance. I could easily fall into the trap of comparing Teng's voice to once such as Sarah McLachlan, but I think Vienna makes her own mark with her own nearly vibrato-less and airy quality. There is a certain timbre in her voice that seems to hold the promise of a bigger sound, but in Warm Strangers, she never displays it, even in a few songs that could benefit from such strength. Vienna says on her website**, I took classical voice lessons for a year after college, which amounted to paying $40 a week to be told that I was doing it all wrong. I don't think we fixed anything... Regardless of this investment "failure", Vienna is a decent singer, and her vocal quality fits very well with the wide open musical arrangements she apparently prefers.
Musicianship
I haven't yet taken time to listen to Teng's first album (David says he likes Waking Hour a little bit more than Warm Strangers), so I have no way to speak to the development of Vienna's style; however, the music of Warm Strangers really appeals to my personal musical tastes. I love the blending of piano and solo instruments such as violin, cello, oboe and trumpet, all combined together with occasional percussion, guitar and bass, and even rarer instrumental effects. I say 'occasional' and 'rarer' because Vienna uses only those elements that will best suit each song; for example, quiet songs like Feather Moon, Green Island Serenade and The Atheist Christmas Carol are sparsely populated with open piano chords and beautiful arpeggios, brushed percussion and plaintive solo instruments. While the few up-tempo songs like Harbor, Hope On Fire and Shasta (Carrie's Song) allow most or all of the instrumental voices to sing, none of them are overbearing and they don't crowd each other out. A lot of bands subscribe to the Phil Spector 'wall of sound' theory - more is better - for me, more is, more often than not, much more than any song can handle.
When a band uses a lot of effects, relies on studio production trickery, and inserts far too many instrumental sounds than a song really needs, it's usually to try to hide the fact that the music is not that great. To allow so many open spaces in the soundscape is risky, since every instrument and voice is exposed, open to close scrutiny. Throughout Warm Strangers, Vienna and her group of musicians prove that less is more, and they have the skills necessary to make the open soundscape work very well. Steve Herrman's mariachi trumpet is heard in the sonic backdrop to the atmospheric Mission Street. Cellist David Henry and violinist Chris Carmichael deftly illustrate Teng's lyric breathe in, breathe out, exhale and inhale in the haunting opener Feather Moon. Will Kimbrough's slide and acoustic guitars give country road authenticity to the tale of a trucker who finds redemption in a lonely motel room in Homecoming (Walter's Song). Vienna provides the album's most compelling display of musical skill in My Medea (my favorite track of the album) plucking and scraping the strings of a prepared piano - a sound produced by a piano that has objects placed on or between the piano's strings. In this case, the effect is a crystalline harmonic, the sonic equivalent of a diamond etching clear glass.
Message
The theme of Warm Strangers is most often found in the expression of a searching soul, whether a soul being guided into the Harbor of a friend's love, the pregnant girl with a life-changing decision to make in Shasta (Carrie's Song), or the restless ghost seeking final Passage after a car crash claims her young life. All of the songs are thought-provoking and very poetic - Teng displays a quirky wit and makes deftly cutting observations that are eloquently open and honest about life's twists and turns. I appreciate artists who reach deeper into matters of the heart and the darker corners of the mind, and Warm Strangers locates and opens up these places within me. The openness of the music allows the lyrics to stand out and be examined closely, rather than being blurred by a sonic fireworks display designed to distract. The music and lyrics complement each other; stylistically, the sounds of the songs match the apparent intent of the lyric - this is the trick to making really good music (at least in my book). My Medea is an excellent example of the level of literacy Vienna displays in her song lyrics, the final third of my trifecta of respect for a musician - here's the entirety of the lyric:
inside the labyrinth walls
there lies a tiny child who sleeps alone
and as the daylight falls
the wind becomes so wild across the stone
for I have made her prison be
her every step away from me
and this child I would destroy
if you tried to set her free
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
for it's my thoughts that bind me here
it's this love that I most fear
and this child I would destroy
for I hold her pain most dear
no haven for this heart
no shelter for this child in mazes lost
heaven keep us apart
a curse for every mile of ocean crossed
for I must die for what I've done
a twist of fate a desert sun
for I see what I destroy
sweet reflection knife into me
for I see what I destroy
I can see what I've begun
Respect
My thanks go out to David for suggesting this highly creative, wonderfully musical and intelligently crafted album, and for introducing me to Vienna Teng, a new artist that I will certainly continue to follow over her career, wherever it may take her. I have to admit that I got the better end of this deal - he showed me class and artistry, while I merely provided an interesting history lesson for him. I definitely need to address this - hopefully, I can find for David a new artist that he can appreciate as much as I've come to appreciate Vienna Teng with just this one album, the gorgeous and thought-provoking Warm Strangers.
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Vienna Teng - Warm Strangers
Released Februay 24, 2004 on Virt Records
Track Listing:
Feather Moon / Harbor / Hope On Fire / Shine / Mission Street / My Medea / Shasta (Carrie's Song) / Homecoming (Walter's Song) / Anna Rose / Passage / The Atheist Christmas Carol / Green Island Serenade (hidden track)
**Visit Vienna Teng's Official Website at viennateng.com
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