Audra Kubat "Since I Fell in Love With the Music" (Times Beach)
By Peter A. Holden
Friday. Jun 17, 12:18 AM
A soul who bleeds for the sake of expression.

(read an interview with Audra here)

In this so-called modern age of ours, those who create popular music can kill and devalue the power of words. The world of pop music, in all its glorious and deluded forms, seems to be unintentionally making certain words like “love” and “sex” and “pain” into useless conjunctions to complete sentences. Insincerity ends up reigning supreme where once only true emotion ruled. It is almost as if the destruction of the gravity of language itself is the end goal through flooding the market and haphazardly playing off drab redundancy. The realm of singer-songwriter is not immune to such hazards: just as often the intimacy of the voice and guitar combo becomes merely a lifeless dial tone in the hands of those who don’t dig deep enough. Now, putting the cynical guns away for a second and staring at the horizon with anime sized eyes, real passion does manage to beam through. Audra Kubat succeeds in breathing life back into sentiments that have quite often been made trite.

Audra plays off the gentle, soothing M.Ward character of her voice in a fashion that suggests she actually means what she says. Useless amounts of vibrato and overstretched power are the vehicles of so many of the mainstream’s biggest contenders, but Ms. Kubat seems to just rely on her honesty. Of her voice, her words, and a depth of sincerity that I can only guess belies none of her real emotions. Whereas Beyoncé can outshine some of the best singers in terms of accuracy and projection, why the hell should we be sold by her performance and her skill when she tells us she loved someone dearly? She didn’t frickin’ write the words: she just sings them!! There’s a degree to which passionate expression requires a connection to its content. Lyrics like “Why does it hurt so damn badly, why is it always all or nothing” coming from Audra Kubat are light years beyond, uh… Beyoncé in this regard. She firmly establishes that connection through her grace of presence.

Since I Fell in Love with the Music’s melodies also suggest a depth of perception well beyond the artist’s years. Sometimes that is what is said regarding wisdom, but music, when crafted well, conveys this just as effectively. Broken down to the bare essentials, the vocal notes and guitar chords she chooses don’t meander aimlessly or lend themselves to all-too-familiar patterns. Delicately placed, tasteful instrumentation only accentuates the intelligence of those choices. Accordion seems to be one of her favorites and I can’t complain. The title track is the heartbreaker for me. It is the crowning achievement (quite literally cuz it’s the last track) of all the aforementioned skills and authenticities she embodies. It’s just a really beautifully sad song.

Audra Kubat has a real knack for convincing the listener that her heart is where it should be, and her music is emblematic of a soul who bleeds for the sake of expression.
www.audrakubat.com
www.timesbeachrecords.com

Peter A. Holden

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