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Shelley
Short: Oh' Say Little Dogies, Why?
A sweet voice can be dangerous. Both critics and listeners may make the mistake of taking a wispy vocal track less seriously than the gritty sound of a diesel-powered singer. But a delicate voice can also speak to a part of ones heart untouched by gutsy soul. Shelley Short is poised to join the ranks of sweet-voiced lullaby ladies that I favor for candlelight and a cup of tea. She just needs a little time. Ms. Short sings in the fine tradition of fairy voices like Karen Paris of Innocence Mission, though her voice is a bit rough at the edges, more from lack of training and practice than quality. Oh, Say Little Dogies, Why? is a fine effort at atmospheric folk, replete with the unpolished sound and occasional cavernous echoes of a live session. That lack of pretension can occasionally seem more like amateurs work than a focus on purity. Recorded in Portland, Oregon and Questa, New Mexico, this album is almost unusually divided in quality between the two locations. The Portland-recorded tracks are all of lesser quality, with more falsetto and discordance. Although some of these songs miss the mark, the larger portion demonstrate Ms. Shorts intended goal sweet folk with comfortable, bittersweet lyrics. Who Am I to Fall opens with a melody reminiscent of a Christmas hymn and perfectly aligned backing vocals. Carbon Paper Skies strikes an off-note in the same area, however, the backing vocals of Larry Yes seem out of touch with mood and slightly grating against Ms. Shorts delicacy. On Time Oh Time, a preschool-age girl backs Ms. Short, and though this is appealing in a cute sense, it does not make for a pleasant listening experience. Sweet music is most usually dismissed for purveying cute sounds. One of the stronger tracks on the album is Giving Someone Giving, which reaches beyond the sweet to the beautiful Shelley Shorts voice sounds more invested in her lyrical message, thrumming the line Whos gonna be there when I fall? with something like a desire for a real answer. Even The Water has a particular grotto-like feel, and makes one wonder just what the recording space looked like; it also has an unearthly clarinet, which can be a difficult instrument to handle; here, it is used to beautiful, spacey effect. Pullin, Pullin, Pullin and Its Here, Its There round out the best tracks, and indicate the direction Ms. Short should pursue to improve her sound. Shelley Short has chosen to walk the fine line between smooth, honeyed tones and the danger of lurching into a sugary, piercing falsetto. In general, she does well, but she needs more time to cultivate her lower register. She also needs better backing vocals, or to stick to the purity of her one voice against the guitar, lap steel, and banjo she employs. Given more live exposure and some time to grow as an artist, Shelley Short may soon be turning out albums that are perfectly suited to the sweet times of life.
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