NUEVA by Dylan Collins
Kristi Kates / Tangle

Some new artists are intent on following the latest trend in whatever incarnation it currently appears, hoping that jumping on the bandwagon will ensure instant success.  Then, there are those rare musicians who are capable of befriending the currently familiar but, at the same time, can also move into neoteric territory.  If Tangle is any indication, Kristi Kates is soon to be one of the leaders of the next expedition of fresh talent.  From a sonic perspective, the album lacks the technical foundation that it deserves - you get the impression that it was recorded at a studio with equipment that needed to be dusted off - but one can easily see where Kates intended to go, and it is apparant that this first CD is only a jumping-off point.  A collection of pop-rock songs with a modern twist, the album is full of well-crafted compositions with seasonings that are as far from the Spice Girls as you could get - upon hearing such numbers as Spin, Man As An Aeroplane, Tesseract, or Nothing, one is reminded more of the edgy pop gems of artists like Squeeze or Alanis Morissette.  Kates' arrangements often highlight an unusual turnaround or bridge just when you least expect it, and the landscapes of the songs are tinged with sounds that add texture and interest.  It's also quite nice to hear a female artist who doesn't spend an entire album sounding either irate or distraught - when Kates does have a sadly pensive moment, such as on Just A Seed or Bottle Song, or an infuriated one, such as on Snakes and Ladders, she executes the emotion with an understated elegance that drives the point home with more effectiveness than many of her overblown contemporaries.  The lyrics are perhaps a big part of this - direct when necessary, but primarily beautifully cryptic, her words could almost stand on their own as poetry.  A singer with a lot to say, and a writer with the ability to translate those messages into songs, Kristi Kates is one to watch, and one who is already effectively untangling herself from the rest of the new female modern rock genre.