Stand back, open your ears, and really listen to this woman. Her solo album, “Purple Room”, demands it from every angle. With its 12 solid tracks, professional recording quality, synchronistic instrumentation, and clear crisp vocals, the album is a powerhouse of personal expression. Though I’m really not quite sure how autobiographical the songs themselves are, Tricia brings a personal touch to all her stories. You don’t see too many mamas in this industry, but for Tricia Mitchell, her well seasoned experiences have only helped to shape her style and sound. She’s got a sense of humor and class, and it is this flair that drew me to her music for review in the first place.
About the Artist Texas songwriter Tricia Mitchell recorded Purple Room while secluded in the forests of New Hampshire; plump with child, surviving mainly on tree moss, wild mushrooms and pine bark. Okay, I don’t know about the pine bark. Actually, she recorded it partly in a purple room in her house and partly in a studio with just a clip-on condenser microphone and a Roland 4-track recorder on top of old CRo2-type Roxy Music cassette tapes. Okay, so I don’t know about the Roxy Music part. Well, you never know with these artist-types what the truth is these days, but the album itself was recorded and produced in 2002 and 2003, under Pigtail Records (a tiny little label out of Texas) and under the watchful eye and ear of producer Colin Boyd. The first thing you get about the recording itself is how crisp and perfect it is. It almost makes you jealous. Every track is clean and superbly mixed. In fact, let’s just say I know a thing or two about mixing kids and career, so I can only come to the conclusion that this late bloomer (musically speaking) has either a great deal of determination or a hell of a lot of support and good friends. Or maybe a really, really quiet child.
Notes & Comparisons
Tricia at times seems to venture in seemingly opposite directions, holding the line tight and steady with her experienced voice. On the Purple Room album, she starts off with a little song of hope and being on the cusp of something great with “For This”, then somehow is able to pull the listener into “Bobby Joe Plays Violin”, which could most easily be compared to bluegrassy songs of old. Because her voice easily adapts to difficult and different styles, for the most part, there is no turbulence for the listener in the transitions. Her more quirky songs, like “Valerie” (a hello/goodbye song to a friend lost in a plane accident – really more of a celebration of the friend than anything somber) and “Girlfriend of the Band” (a parody song about dating a drummer) are definitely influenced by the great masterpieces of Elvis Costello. Her voice itself is a mix of Dar Williams and Sheryl Crow. Innocence meets experience. Tricia’s got the practiced and tightly reined vocals of a true pro.
Tricia Mitchell's Purple room contains 12 tracks of unforgettable original music and is available at http://www.triciamitchell.com:
Narrative, poppy, and upbeat, Tricia’s sarcastic humor is evident in her parodic portrayal of a girl living vicariously through her boyfriend – the drummer in a band. Again we are allowed entrance in the world of this character, and by the end of the song I couldn’t help but have compassion for her situation. Don’t be mislead, however, this tone is light and humorous.
The guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, and tambourine create a wide, expansive sound you could say brings to mind the standard pop folk sound. The clapping at the end of this song tops it off. This is one of the strongest songs on the album.
I found myself wrapped into this simple girl and her guitar ballad. Possibly because it’s a narration by a woman imprisoned for killing her abusive husband, reasoning her actions to the listener. The lyrics suggest to the listener that we may be the judges of this helpless woman fighting for her life. And being human in a world as it is, I couldn’t help listening a second time to reassess my judgments. Like any good story, whatever your feelings and whatever “side” you’re on -- you are forced you to look more deeply at the human characters in the story. All of them. How they feel, where they come from, and why they do what they do become food for thought, as do the characters in this story.
Beyond the lyrical content, the acoustic guitar (played by Colin Boyd) has a very lullaby-ish feel about it, suggesting the innocence of everything involved. Like every song on this album, the recording quality is impressive, as is Tricia’s clean vocal performance.
Tricia understands commitment to her vision. You can hear it in her voice. Trisha seems to understand her art form and has a vision of what it looks like and what it sounds like. In my opinion, she’ll only progress from this point on – most likely to that “next level”, which, if Purple Room is any example of her overall sound and skill, she’s more than ready for. I have no problem placing her among some of my favorite “chick rock” musicians. In fact, this is really a chick worth checking out. ~bfreaks
- Courtney
BandFreaks Staff Reviewer
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July 09, 2008, 12:28:07 AM
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