Album Review: Demetra takes a musical sojourn through the North with Lone Migration
What if all I have to offer is a broken heart?
Demetra (Penner) is an artist, yogi and world traveller who finds inspiration by escaping from her occasional home of Winnipeg to the frozen tundras of the North. In her debut full length, Lone Migration, Penner displays these influences with the flexibility of her range, the imagery in her soundscape, and the expressiveness in the instrumentation.
To bring her music to fruition, Penner called upon friends like Andrew Braun (Hannah Georgas), Matt Peters (Royal Canoe, The Waking Eyes) and Inuit throat singer Nikki Komaksiutiksak to expand her sonic pallet. With all that extra manpower, it’s somewhat surprising yet apt that the disc begins with “Emergency Exit,” a track that starts with just Penner accompanied by simple piano chimes. Her voice, pure with nary a waver, has a lonesome quality to it that recalls the icy white of the North.
Penner’s angelic voice is always tempered by whimsy in her songwriting. Tinkling banjos follow behind, and then enters the jarring guitar strums. “Hey Stranger,” similarly, reflect a playfulness that perfectly complements the optimism of new love in the lyricism. The lovely track is streaming above and available for download here.
Lone Migration, for all its lighthearted whimsy, is not superficial. Demetra’s voice deftly floats and sinks, and rises and sinks again; her vocals are expressively sinuous, like a constant stream. Although tracks like the string-laden “Maiden of Ice” can evoke a chill, much like the majestic beauty of the North, Long Migration never feels inaccessible like the landscape that became her muse. It takes a voice and a talent like Demetra to make the connection.
Lone Migration is available in stores now.
