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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. |
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| 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 |
| 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. However, if you crave originality, ala Mazzy Star, then Would You Stay, Steffaloo's sophomore album, her entrancing voice will take you for a lovesick ride full of stripped down acoustics and a melancholy sense of being. This is all a really good thing though. Music like this; indie and so very bedroom-voice is this generation's answer to those ballads that teenage girls of long ago would sit and listen to underneath a blanket, staring out their bedroom window, just oh-so-hoping that their boyfriend would call or drive by. Steffaloo has a much better take on those ballads and puts a unique and sweet spin on lamenting lost loves, finding your way, and those defining moments that carry us into adulthood. Would You Stay, released on the Mush Record label, comes after Meet Me In Montauk, Steffaloo's self-released debut album. Meet Me In Montauk helped Steffaloo carve her way into the music scene, gaining some major indie cred; The artist, who has been living in L.A. for six years, has played at festivals such as SXSW, CMJ, and FMLY Fest. She is also in demand; collaborating on projects with Blackbird Blackbird, Chrome Sparks, Sun Glitters and Teen Daze. Ironically enough, Steffaloo also joined forces with Stumbleine to do a cover of the Mazzy Star hit, "Fade Into You," http://youtu.be/Dv_9Sf4B2tI which sent chills down my spine. Steph Thompson wants you to know that she is passionate about her music. The thirteen track LP is full of twinkly, sensitive tunes that all draw on the listener's appreciation of essential nature and it starts right away with the title track, "Would You Stay," a song that makes you, who is now the eavesdropper, feel deeply vulnerable; "Oh what a thing to say, that you loved her but ran away. Tell me what would it take, Oh baby, would you...would you stay?" These pleading lyrics over Steffaloo strumming her acoustic guitar and simple beats, with the focus being all on her pretty and lush feathery voice; begging this person to just STAY. "Would you stay? you should stay..." On "I'm Sorry," the jauntiness of the organ and the chime is a really harmonious and poignant overtune to what Steffaloo is really saying in this song, that she says she turned out right after getting laid off from her job after five years of working there. She did good; "I'm Sorry" is a dreamy song that puts you right in Steffaloo's heartsick path; we can't help but feel empathy for her because she only wanted someone to love and hold, but alas, someone broke her. The seraphic and frothy arrangement feels like it is meant to be there amid Steffaloo's willowy and ethereal delivery. The longing just exudes from her, thus giving you a sense that you are right there in the room with her as she sings these songs and strums her acoustic guitar. In all of Steffaloo's tracks, especially "Rainy Fingers" (a favorite, though short at just 01:32), and also "Fight & Flail," there are interesting background noises which could be compared to a white noise machine or rain falling outside of a window while the recording was going on. I like this and when I had a chance to ask Steffaloo about this "trademark" she laughed it off, telling me that "it's not a fad {she's} trying to make a statement about, really, it's just her 'poorman's' solution to making music." That solution works and she should stick to it, but then again, I'm just a listener. It's this "sound" that brings about such an enticing ambiance that takes holds of your atmosphere around you and doesn't let go. "The Whale and Me," a stripped down acoustic number reminiscent of Mazzy Star's "Blue Light," is just simply put, a delicate whisper of liquid sunshine. You can hear the aching and yearning in Steffaloo's voice, evoking commiserative and lovelorn butterflies in places that you had no idea you could feel them. Her raw and exposed lyrics convey so much on Would You Stay acquiescing the audience to feel the bared nerves that Steffaloo was feeling when the music was coming from her soul. This is most definitely an album you do not want to miss. It's perfectly suited for moods of all kinds and I'm promising you that Steffaloo is going to be right up there with Feist, and soon. When music moves you, (and isn't it supposed to?) then you know you're holding, and hearing, a goldmine, or in Steffaloo's case; A Sun Shower. - In Your Speakers |
CD/Not Yet Released