SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ALLEGRA KRIEGER – THE JOYS OF FORGETTING

Allegra Krieger
The Joys Of Forgetting
Northern Spy Records

These days, there are so many singer-songwriters around, male or female, you can easily get the impression that they’re doing one and the same thing. Still, you can actually divide them into three or four categories: those that are truly exceptional in every way, and those that are really good and bring along seemingly small shifts, but shifts that bring some excellent music. Of course, there are those that are simply run-of-the-mill but still sound okay, and then there are those that are just simply bad.

On The Joys Of Forgetting, her latest album, Brooklyn’s Allegra Krieger is in that second group, at least for the moment, as the album sounds like an inherent promise of even better things.

The moment “The Push and Pull” opens the album, you get the clear feeling that Krieger possesses all the elements that could spell really good music – a clear, pleasing voice, melodic structure of songs that do not simply serve as a background, and some thoughtful, intelligent lyrics. As the album progresses, Krieger also emerges as an excellent arranger, exemplified through the way strings play their role in tracks like “Welcome” and “Forgot.”

In essence, The Joys Of Forgetting turns out to be one of those singer-songwriter albums that will not simply be played once and then turn into one of the dust collectors on your shelves. It deserves much better.<

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