Yearling

When Piney Gir turns her busy hands to music it's a bit like a great new boutique just opened downtown. Genres are dusted off like fabulous half forgotten dresses, there is a flurry of accessorizing and eventually a beautiful girl steps out of the changing room. But enough with the metaphors. The Yearling is Piney Gir's third full album, marking the latest move in a fascinating career that's already spanned jazz, electronic pop and full on country y'all. Angela Penhaligon, for she is Piney, has made perhaps her definitive album, all Kansas plains heartbreak fed through a blend of electronica, folk, wistful pop and knowing jazz. No boundaries, no apologies, all melodies. Produced with her sonic collaborators the Age of Reason and an international cast of musicians from gospel choirs in Kansas City to saw players in Tooting, the album is a sumptuous musical ride. Which other writer could combine delicate heartbreak sci-fi folk (The Weeping Machine), with straight to the bop pop (Say I'm Sorry), whilst plying her way with a campfire narrative (Miss Havisham) and all of it dipped in the gal's never less than pin-sharp eye for a great story about the wanderings of the heart. Quite a cocktail,... this is Piney's most dazzling record yet... The yearning of her country record, a dose of the heartbreak-on-the-road (who knows?!) with cutting edge production that takes it's nods from everything between German electronica and warm 70s FM radio. Live she is an audio visual delight incorporating costume changes, mixed media projections, puppetry, not to mention the Age of Reason and the Reasonettes is like someone let the toy box out to play.