 |
MH-285 Steffaloo - Would You Stay  Would You Stay is the Mush full-length debut from Los Angeles based auteur Steph Thompson, recording as Steffaloo. The thirteen-track album is a meditation on beauty and loss that uses the tape-hiss ambience and reverb drenched vocals of a classic bedroom recording to capture isolation and heartache in simple, yet near-perfect songs. The title track sets the mood of the album, as Steffaloo strums an acoustic guitar with a style that hints as bossa nova while she lists the things that she can't bring herself to do to save her relationship. Tracks like "Can't You See" and "I'm Sorry" marry subtle hooks and unexpected phrasing with perfectly matched instrumentation to create a haunting mood reminiscent of You Are Free era Cat Power. Throughout the album, percussion is used sparingly, be it a simple kick drum or washed out handclap, and never gets in the way of the song. A handful of chance-taking tracks, including the desolate campfire tale "Lonely Night" and the effected "My Heart Beats" break up the album. By the time the slightly out of tune guitar and pleading vocal of "The Whale And Me" and the beautiful harmonies of "You" close the album, it is clear that Would You Stay perfectly captures its author's distinctive sound. |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reviews Summary |
| Masterwork of heart-rending realism and poignant optimism - Altsounds / When I hear Steffaloo’s music I can’t help but feel the love - Deftune / This just may be the quintessential fall album all of you indie folk enthusiasts have been looking for - Indie Shuffle / If you were or are a fan of chicks with guitars: i,e,: Cat Power, Feist, even a dash of St. Vincent, then Steffaloo is the musician for you - In Your Speakers |
| Reviews |
| Lo-fi has, in its recent explosion, become to be a kind of style: usually meaning fuzzed-out, overdriven garage-rock or wobbly, tape-sheeny, Ariel Pink-ish pop. But choosing to record in a raw, direct fashion can still be a choice informed by song and sentiment, not just style. Steffaloo's "Would You Stay," doesn't feature the cruddy sound that speaks of a stylistic choice; instead it's a song aesthetically unadorned; a quiet ballad that refuses to polish up the performance. Mostly, I'm thinking of those really audible squeaks that come each time Steph Thompson slides her fingers on guitar strings, and how they're just as loud —sometimes even louder— than the moments of 'proper' playing. It's not a lo-fi song in that there's a smooth sonic spell that arises, as a clunky drum-machine rises up and Thompson's vocals are multi-tracked into a one-woman chorus. But there's unvarnished truth to the central singing-and-playing take; which rests at the heart of this softly-stepping, even-more-softly-strumming acoustic ode to the transience of summer and the transience of romance. "Would You Stay" reminds me of those old Quiet Is the New Loud acolytes, Kings of Convenience; a high compliment for those into gentle guitar playing and soft, sincere harmonies. It's a taste of the second Steffalo LP, also called Would You Stay. - Alt Music |
CD/Not Yet Released