Terra Lopez talked twice about colors, she said that her song ‘(in) Reverse’ was about colors, colors and numbers, but I was wondering why,… musicians rarely talk about colors when they perform. She said in an interview that ‘the song itself is mostly about a disorder called synesthesia, which causes me to see sound and numbers in color. I just found out that I had it about three years ago.’
Oh yes, that explains a lot of things and may be that’s why she chose to perform under the moniker Sister Crayon?
But if she was seeing colors, I was just hearing sounds, and beautiful ones during Sister Crayon’s mini concert at Origami Vinyl on Friday night.
The Sacramento-based quartet, who has released an album, ‘Below’, on independent label Manimal Vinyl, compose hybrid songs, often slowly building up thanks to ghostly synths and drum machines, before the eerie and soulful Lopez’s vocals start. I am saying hybrid because their synths, with a guitar and some electronica, were swirling and producing these strange atmospheric places where her voice could travel, going from an almost rap delivery to a full soprano-operatic style.
There was a sort of contrast between the elaborate dark and moody music, the sensual dance beats and her powerful vocals, as if she was suddenly bringing soul, flesh and emotion to this empty electronic world.
Some tunes were actually more animated of these beats, and the videos I have watched on line did not give a real good idea of Terra’s vibrant presence, and the songs dancing potential, not Beth Ditto potential, but still, there was something of this nature, with much more melancholy.
It was very hot in the store, as many people had arrived to see the show, and I can’t imagine how hot it was up there, in the loft, especially when playing and dancing. Terra announced they will be playing their last song, people were asking for two more, but she said they would pass out if they had to play another song!
She was talkative, thanked us several times as she could not believe how many people had got there. She also said to not leave right away, as the band had brought free CDs for everyone there, a really nice attention from a band who has probably a promising future, listening to the new song they also played.