Spyglass
Self Titled,
Self-Released, EP

Review by Dave Liljengren

Working the vast musical cosmos between Sade and Bailter Space, Spyglass serves up a jazzy outer limits cocktail on their debut EP. Fronted by singer-pianist, Barbara Trentalange, this Seattle quintet uses a a variety of keyboards and a continuum of crisp guitar sounds to launch songs about liquor and the Valley of the Dolls, amongst other winsome, twilight-ish topics. Trentalange's calm, world-weary delivery makes her sound as if she's borne the slings and arrows of several torch singer lifetimes already. Never upbeat, but never quite down and out either, Spyglass sets up a sunset mood and stays there for the course of the five songs on the disc. Even with a radiant title, "Sun Song," is nonetheless a bittersweet vamp at best and not a number likely to break the scale on the happy-ometer. The last song on the disc, "Torch," is not a traditional torch song about the sadness of love unrequited, instead it's about sizzling emotions and fire burning "the system" down. If you're looking for some moody sunset sounds for your listening pleasure, this disc is for you. And the best thing about it is that all of the songs can be downloaded for free as MP3 files at www.spyglassmusic.com

Review of Spyglass Live at the Tractor, 11/6/99

Spyglass Entry in the KTL Links Page

Spyglass Featured in Kill The Lights

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