Sarah Donner This Is A Pegasus Review by Gary Hill
This is a fairly artsy set. It works quite well, too. Folk, bluegrass, pop, rock and more show up here. It’s all delivered with potent vocals, and solid songwriting. Not everything here is a full winner, but it’s all pretty darn good.
This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2015 Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Signal
The set opens with a mid-tempo pop rock number. This is good and has a cool powered up section. It’s just not the kind of quick grabber that works best as an opener.
With Pride There’s a lot of ragtime and bluegrass in the mix on this. It has a very old time texture on the first section. Then, it burst out to a more contemporary arrangement. It still retains some of the country element, but is brought more into mainstream music. This is a song about gay rights – or more specifically about tolerance. It’s a very positive message.
Perfect Time This is more of a modern rock piece. It’s a good tune and arguably the most mainstream number to this point. I like it a lot. There is a folk element here, but also somewhat of a progressive rock bent.
Perspective Modern pop rock blends with folk music on this energetic number.
The Rebuttal of Schrödinger's Cat Folk music is mixed with more modern elements here. This is bouncy, fun and a little weird. It’s quite playful.
Let Him Go Playful ragtime and folk music based, this even has a kazoo solo. Although this is fun, I don’t really like it.
Sightlines An energized folk rock tune, this isn’t any kind of huge departure. That said, it’s one of the more effective pieces here.
Daniel
More of a rocker, this is just sort of middle of the road in terms of quality. Not only that, but the formula is starting to wear a bit thin by this point in the set.
Things to Believe In Another folky tune, this is just not all that exceptional either.
Seine Donner definitely redeems herself here. This song has a more modern sound. The arrangement is full and lush, and the whole piece just works really well. This is one of the best tracks of the whole set.
Plain Man Another exceptional piece, this has a powerful arrangement. There are moments where it’s gentle and delicate. There are others where it really soars. It’s a beautiful song and another highlight.
Misunderstood There is more folk and bluegrass at the start of this, but the arrangement builds beyond that. This one is sort of back in the familiar mold, though. It suffers a bit from that.
Rogue Another based more on the folk side of theequation, this is definitely too much like a lot of the rest to really stand out.
