| Thayer Sarrano — Lift Your Eyes To The Hills (2012) |
Thayer Sarrano — Lift Your Eyes To The Hills
Location: Athens, Georgia, USA
Album release: April 2, 2012
Record Label: self released
Duration: 39:32
Tracks:
01. Quiet Now Your Bones (4:16)
02. Hand Held to Your Mouth (3:05)
03. The Bend (4:08)
04. Witness (3:12)
05. I Miss My Lord (2:20)
06. Gates (3:18)
07. The Wolf (3:33)
08. They Are All Used to Your Beauty (2:42)
09. Blue Mother (5:19)
10. Echo Believer, Linger Linger (7:37)
Credits:
♠ Thayer Sarrano = vocals,guitar, organ, mellotron, pedal steel
♠ Jeremy Wheatley, Jim Wilson, Seth Hendershot = drums
♠ Zack Hosey and Hank Sullivant = guitar
♠ Produced by Thayer Sarrano and Hank Sullivant
♠ Engineered by Drew Vandenberg at Chase Park Transduction in Athens, GA.
Description:
♠ "It’s refreshing to hear Thayer Sarrano, who has accompanied an impressive list of bands (including Dead Confederate, of Montreal and Kuroma) on keys and pedal steel in the past, reverse roles and take the spotlight on Lift Your Eyes to the Hills.
♠ Although the album incorporates organ, Mellotron, pedal steel, guitar, bass and more drums than previous works to create a full-band sound, the fairly sparse arrangements keep the focus centered on Sarrano’s lonesome and haunting voice. The melancholic melody of “They Are All Used to Your Beauty,” for example, sounds as if it’s flowing out from a wavering, underwater organ with tranquil vocals rippling in from far off. While the vocals are generally even-toned and composed, they occasionally dip into slightly dissonant layering and uneasy atmospherics.
♠ Many of the tracks use repetitive lyrics to reinforce an image or message, reiterating the same few phrases over and over. “I Miss My Lord” is one such song, full of solemn chanting and revealing a strong influence of Southern folk and gospel.
♠ Released with a pre-order campaign through which all money aside from production costs was donated to Nuçi Space’s Camp Amped, a rock and roll summer camp and after-school program for teens at which Sarrano is a counselor, Lift Your Eyes to the Hills is a well-intentioned album full of spirituality and purpose."
- Flagpole Magazine
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
♠ You may also find Thayer Sarrano currently playing keys or pedal steel w/ T. Hardy Morris and the Outfit, David Barbe and the Quickhooks, Dave Marr (Star Room Boys), Matt Hudgins and the sh*t hot country band, Sunny 100...
Website: http://www.thayersarrano.com/
Bandcamp: http://thayersarrano.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thayersarrano
Press contact & reservé agent:
PRESS:
♠ "The new queen of shoegaze..." — Americana UK
♠ "a beguiling Athens-based singer who casts an exquisite spell with her spare, ghostly songs that haunt the ears from a distance. Subtle, southern, lonesome and eerie, she clearly knows her way around heavy, drowsy reverb, bringing forth obvious comparisons to Mazzy Star and Chan Marshall. After spending most of her time as a supporting player with numerous Athens outfits, she's definitely gotten my attention..." — (Stomp and Stammer Magazine)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Published: 2012/05/02 by Brian Robbins (http://www.jambands.com)
♠ Listening to Thayer Sarrano’s Lift Your Eyes To The Hills is like coming across a dark-colored-but-funky-nonetheless sweater in a second-hand clothing shop, trying it on, and finding that it’s been waiting for you to come along. Her music is already worn in all the right places and feels familiar. And it’s not so much dark as it serious – serious, yet soft at the same time.
♠ Lift Your Eyes To The Hills doesn’t challenge – it nestles.
♠ Whereas Sarrano’s 2009 debut King was sparse and vapory at times, the world offered up in the grooves of Lift Your Eyes To The Hills is made of layers of shifting sound strata: guitars both bone dry and dripping with shimmery reverb; drums that range from barely-there (“The Bend”) to full-fledged roll and tumble (“Gates”); thick, viscous organ (“They Are All Used To Your Beauty”); fathoms of synthed strings (“Echo Believer, Linger Linger”). And even when the instrumentation is down to the bare minimum – the starkly-strummed guitar on “I Miss My Lord” – Sarrano’s multi-tracked vocals (everything from unison near-croaks to lovely harmony parts) make for great depth in the arrangement.
♠ There were helping hands in the construction of Lift Your Eyes To The Hills (including Seth Hendershot, Jim Wilson, and Jeremy Wheatly on drums along with guitarists Hank Sullivant and Zack Hosey) but much of what you hear is Sarrano herself, aided by the sonic navigation of Drew Vandenberg. Her songs are – what? Psychedelic folk? Sometimes: it’s not hard to imagine “Hand Held To Your Mouth” or “Quiet Now Your Bones” being rearranged by Big Brother’s Sam Andrew and James Hurley. There’s also Wilco-ish moodiness (“Witness” or “The Bend”) and moments that wouldn’t have been out of place on ol’ Neil’s Le Noise (Serrano’s vocal is tucked just out of reach behind the massive organ wheeze of “They Are All used To Your Beauty”).
♠ All in all, it’s an impressive album from a young musician with talent beyond her years. And just like that sweater, Thayer Sarrano sounds comfy as hell with who she is.
| Thayer Sarrano — Lift Your Eyes To The Hills (2012) |
Thayer Sarrano — Lift Your Eyes To The Hills
Location: Athens, Georgia, USA
Album release: April 2, 2012
Record Label: self released
Duration: 39:32
Tracks:
01. Quiet Now Your Bones (4:16)
02. Hand Held to Your Mouth (3:05)
03. The Bend (4:08)
04. Witness (3:12)
05. I Miss My Lord (2:20)
06. Gates (3:18)
07. The Wolf (3:33)
08. They Are All Used to Your Beauty (2:42)
09. Blue Mother (5:19)
10. Echo Believer, Linger Linger (7:37)
Credits:
♠ Thayer Sarrano = vocals,guitar, organ, mellotron, pedal steel
♠ Jeremy Wheatley, Jim Wilson, Seth Hendershot = drums
♠ Zack Hosey and Hank Sullivant = guitar
♠ Produced by Thayer Sarrano and Hank Sullivant
♠ Engineered by Drew Vandenberg at Chase Park Transduction in Athens, GA.
Description:
♠ "It’s refreshing to hear Thayer Sarrano, who has accompanied an impressive list of bands (including Dead Confederate, of Montreal and Kuroma) on keys and pedal steel in the past, reverse roles and take the spotlight on Lift Your Eyes to the Hills.
♠ Although the album incorporates organ, Mellotron, pedal steel, guitar, bass and more drums than previous works to create a full-band sound, the fairly sparse arrangements keep the focus centered on Sarrano’s lonesome and haunting voice. The melancholic melody of “They Are All Used to Your Beauty,” for example, sounds as if it’s flowing out from a wavering, underwater organ with tranquil vocals rippling in from far off. While the vocals are generally even-toned and composed, they occasionally dip into slightly dissonant layering and uneasy atmospherics.
♠ Many of the tracks use repetitive lyrics to reinforce an image or message, reiterating the same few phrases over and over. “I Miss My Lord” is one such song, full of solemn chanting and revealing a strong influence of Southern folk and gospel.
♠ Released with a pre-order campaign through which all money aside from production costs was donated to Nuçi Space’s Camp Amped, a rock and roll summer camp and after-school program for teens at which Sarrano is a counselor, Lift Your Eyes to the Hills is a well-intentioned album full of spirituality and purpose."
- Flagpole Magazine
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
♠ You may also find Thayer Sarrano currently playing keys or pedal steel w/ T. Hardy Morris and the Outfit, David Barbe and the Quickhooks, Dave Marr (Star Room Boys), Matt Hudgins and the sh*t hot country band, Sunny 100...
Website: http://www.thayersarrano.com/
Bandcamp: http://thayersarrano.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thayersarrano
Press contact & reservé agent:
PRESS:
♠ "The new queen of shoegaze..." — Americana UK
♠ "a beguiling Athens-based singer who casts an exquisite spell with her spare, ghostly songs that haunt the ears from a distance. Subtle, southern, lonesome and eerie, she clearly knows her way around heavy, drowsy reverb, bringing forth obvious comparisons to Mazzy Star and Chan Marshall. After spending most of her time as a supporting player with numerous Athens outfits, she's definitely gotten my attention..." — (Stomp and Stammer Magazine)
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Published: 2012/05/02 by Brian Robbins (http://www.jambands.com)
♠ Listening to Thayer Sarrano’s Lift Your Eyes To The Hills is like coming across a dark-colored-but-funky-nonetheless sweater in a second-hand clothing shop, trying it on, and finding that it’s been waiting for you to come along. Her music is already worn in all the right places and feels familiar. And it’s not so much dark as it serious – serious, yet soft at the same time.
♠ Lift Your Eyes To The Hills doesn’t challenge – it nestles.
♠ Whereas Sarrano’s 2009 debut King was sparse and vapory at times, the world offered up in the grooves of Lift Your Eyes To The Hills is made of layers of shifting sound strata: guitars both bone dry and dripping with shimmery reverb; drums that range from barely-there (“The Bend”) to full-fledged roll and tumble (“Gates”); thick, viscous organ (“They Are All Used To Your Beauty”); fathoms of synthed strings (“Echo Believer, Linger Linger”). And even when the instrumentation is down to the bare minimum – the starkly-strummed guitar on “I Miss My Lord” – Sarrano’s multi-tracked vocals (everything from unison near-croaks to lovely harmony parts) make for great depth in the arrangement.
♠ There were helping hands in the construction of Lift Your Eyes To The Hills (including Seth Hendershot, Jim Wilson, and Jeremy Wheatly on drums along with guitarists Hank Sullivant and Zack Hosey) but much of what you hear is Sarrano herself, aided by the sonic navigation of Drew Vandenberg. Her songs are – what? Psychedelic folk? Sometimes: it’s not hard to imagine “Hand Held To Your Mouth” or “Quiet Now Your Bones” being rearranged by Big Brother’s Sam Andrew and James Hurley. There’s also Wilco-ish moodiness (“Witness” or “The Bend”) and moments that wouldn’t have been out of place on ol’ Neil’s Le Noise (Serrano’s vocal is tucked just out of reach behind the massive organ wheeze of “They Are All used To Your Beauty”).
♠ All in all, it’s an impressive album from a young musician with talent beyond her years. And just like that sweater, Thayer Sarrano sounds comfy as hell with who she is.