by Michele Zipkin
(photo credit, Michele Zipkin)
Priscilla Ahn’s latest record, This is Where We Are, proves a fairly prominent deviation from the majority of her previous output. Stalwart fans all know her as an electro-acoustic, folk-forward songstress, spouting poetic lyrics and singing those airy, melismatic vocal lines that cascade into the tonal atmosphere, like cirrus clouds or jet engine smoke wisp across the sky.
But the songwriter that played the Tin Angel this past Sunday night, accompanied by vocalist and instrumentalist Wendy Wang, showcased a completely different approach to music-making (in my experience, at least). More than half of the songs in her set were built on some kind of synthesized beat, instrumental ornamentation, or vocal accoutrements in the form of harmonic layers.
Both Ahn and Wang used synthesizers by way of piano keyboard, pedals and hand-held gadgets to produce the music. In so doing, they created an unexpectedly electronic vibe (for those who hadn’t heard the new album prior to the show). On this record and in Sunday’s performance, acoustic partnered with synthetic, and it made for a new but intriguing sound.
Ahn’s most recent live-produced tunes included “Diana”, “Home” and “You and Me”, among others. The digital components of those songs really translated well to the stage, which is not always an easy feat.
Interspersed with the synth and pedal-enhanced songs were acoustic numbers from earlier records, including “Dream” and “Wallflower” to name a couple. However, Ahn seemed to have been no stranger to the vocal pedal, a solo singer/songwriter’s burgeoning best friend at live performances. It manifested in the former (if not both) of the aforementioned acoustic gems as a collage of semi-celestial ‘oohs’.
After playing “Remember How I Broke Your Heart,” a song that goes against the grain by describing a heartbreak not endured, but inflicted on someone else, Ahn assured the crowd, “That guy’s gonna be fine.”
Ahn was quite the charming story-teller, both in terms of song lyrics and inter-singing stage banter. No doubt she captivated the audience from the get-go, despite the fact that the Tin’s ambiance- low lighting and table seating- inherently demanded the silence of the room.
