Jodi Krangle – Time Will Tell
About Jodi Krangle: https://www.voiceoversandvocals.com/
About Chris Conway: https://chrisconway.org/cd_jodi.html
The American author Truman Capote once wrote about self-promotion that “a boy has to hustle his work”. Toronto-based singer and songwriter Jodi Krangle understands that implicitly. Her voice can be heard providing narration for programs on networks like Home and Garden TV or the Slice Network in Canada and she founded the popular website The Muse’s Muse. This is a creative force that’s learned how to put her best foot forward in an increasingly hostile world to subsidizing creative work of any sort. Her new album, Time Will Tell, presents listeners with a single facet of her varied skills, but it’s well worth a listen.
She opens with a cover of the film and stage classic “I’ll Be Seeing You” and any over-familiarity with the track fades quickly thanks to her ingratiating vocal. The backing band has a light touch that never pulls the spotlight from the “true” star of the show, Krangle’s warm and powerful voice. “The Water Is Wide”, a much beloved folk classic dating back to the 17th century, is notable for the soaring beauty of her vocal and the delicate empathy of the music. The Chris Conway Trio supports Krangle on this release and their performances, without fail, provide the album with a dependable musical foundation.
The title song has a light, restless pulse while cascading piano lines and brief guitar fills vie to fill the remaining space. Krangle’s vocals are a model of smart phrasing, but there’s suspiciously little emotion in the performance despite some rather vulnerable lyrics. “Too Soon For Forever” pulls listeners in at the behest of its swirling and melodic piano, but Krangle’s singing has crystalline delicacy. The waltz swing of “Knowing” has a similar effect, but more than anything else, the music’s gentle insistence has deceptive hypnotic power. “Wherever” opens with understated bass, finger-snapping, and Krangle’s voice reaching out from the mix. The lyrics are an assortment of clichés, but they are delivered with reassuring intimacy.
“Alternating Paragraphs” has an unusual subject and embraces strong storytelling aspects that few of the album’s earlier songs can equal. Once again, it’s hard to listen and not wish Krangle would take a few more risks vocally. Her otherwise flawless performance never digs deeply into the narrative or characters and, instead, tragically nails a great technical performance that never pierces the skin.
Krangle’s album plays like an outpouring of inspiration, the tribute of someone deeply in love with this musical style and willing to express it in an unabashed fashion. There’s a lot of bumps on the way to its conclusion, but there’s enough here to show anyone paying attention that she’s a first rate talent to watch.
4/5 Stars .
Buy album: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Will-feat-Chris-Conway/dp/B00YE9C754
Michael Saulman