You can hear why rock critics in her native New Zealand love her so much, in a world where we have heard everything at least three times today Jade is an original and yet not entirely. Chelsea’s instinct are all pop music, all melody and hooks using modern science for an old time sound, but she isn’t at all: the way in which Jade mixes samples, found sounds, into her songs is remarkable. They shouldn’t sound like another instrument, they shouldn’t remain firm in the mix but they do and there you are.
“‘I’m very approachable” Chelsea claimed at the end of her set as part of a New Zealand Artists showcase at the Studio At Webster Hall Tuesday night, but she doesn’t look it. She looks translucent, fragile, and, as she sings on one song, alone. With just her computer and a microphone, and the lights so bright Jade actually goes over to the lighting guy and turns them down, as though you’re having sex but you have body issues she cracks, she seems a little laid bare. But the songs are very sturdy, too sturdy to be considered singer songer tears on my guitar songs. They are intricately arranged tick tocks of tracks, and Chelsea adds a loop to pre-programed tapes and if that sounds a little dry, it isn’t. Playing a song she wrote in Japan, it would be perfect, all it is missing is a loud drummer. Jade sings and ululates over the chorus. On “Under” she uses a phaser and it keeps a lovely song further away from the simpler dream pop she could well aiming for and if all this sounds a little on the twee side, Jade jumps off the stage and dances with the audience twice, untethered from her instrument she is both spectral and full bloodied.
Jade has a handful of gorgeous songs on youtube, though I only recognize “Night Swimmer”, under her former name of Watercolours she has some great tracks available, try the lovely “Soft Teeth”, a song so fabulous I’ve included it here.
Here is some cribbing off her website: “Chelsea’s 2012 EP ‘Portals’… is a short archive of pop tunes derived from gathered field recordings – train sounds in Japan; oceans crashing; tap-shoe derived beats”. She’s won a ton of awards in New Zealand, opened for Lorde and cat Power, and isn’t precious at all. Yeah and on stage she seems both artistically extreme and musically valid at the same time. Very approachable? So approach her.
Grade: B+
