Poetica
Mpress, 2021
9/10
The debut album from the Poetica project, the esteemed artist Rachael Sage is paired with the 3 time Grammy nominated cellist Dave Eggar, and they’ve brought along a small army of contributors for the very unconventional spoken word album.
“Unconditional” starts the listen with a healthy amount of atmosphere, as Sage’s poetic spoken word flows alongside Eggar’s cello, James Mastro’s dobro and Russ Johnson’s trumpet amid a dreamy, nearly haunting climate, and “Beginning” follows with Phill Faconti’s electric guitar and Gabe Kedd’s trumpet complementing the vivid storytelling of the cinematic delivery.
Deeper into the listen, “Lamentation” finds a bare space to reside, where Sage’s prose is met with Eggar’s moody, stirring cello, while “Days Of Awe” offers a more firm landscape, as Faconti’s crunch guitar is met with a pair of cellos and Doug Yowell’s ocean snare. “How Songs Are Born”, one of the record’s best, then has Sage’s pipe getting mysterious alongside dobros, Hammond organ and Gerry Leonard’s chilling electric guitar.
Approaching the end, the charming programming and Chuck Palmer’s cajon skills make for the very stylish and playful display of “Pulpit”, and “Untitled” exits the listen string and beat heavy, where Jack Petruzelli’s Hammond and harmonium help cultivate a very atypical finish.
Similarities to Leonard Cohen and Patti Smith won’t be hard to spot here, as Sage and Eggar blur the lines of jazz, folk and classical with an intimate, hazy and highly creative vision that you can’t help but be in awe of.
Travels well with: Rachael Sage- Character; Grace Pettis- Working Woman