Zoh Amba — Eyes Full
A standout instrumentalist goes for a radical switch-up.
Tennessee-born musician Zoh Amba’s latest musical step forward has led them to put aside the saxophone that helped them make their name, and return to the guitar as the basis of Eyes Full, their first studio album with Matador Records, releasing on June 5th. The thirteen-track LP is Amba’s first full vocal project, with close ties to their roots and to local communities within its content.
Stylistically, Eyes Full draws from elements of Appalachian folk, country rock and other adjacent genres; there’s elements of the project which are reminiscent of other singer-songwriters in this field, especially Adrianne Lenker. Amba’s vocals are somewhat similar to Lenker’s in terms of their pitch and timbre, though they are much more unorthodox and rough around the edges throughout the album. While this rawness is mostly engaging to a certain degree, and serves as a positive quality, on highlights such as the title track, “Eyes Full”, “Dead End Street” or the slightly more subdued closer “Smile With Your Eyes”, and allows for the project to feel more open and earnest, the singing does get a little abrasive and difficult to listen to at times. Overall, though, the vocals are dynamic in their tone, shifting back and forth in terms of their energy and intensity, which keeps the project engaging, despite the fairly simple soundscape musically.
The production is quite minimal, with a lot of the album sounding more like a live recording than anything; this simplicity does work in the record’s favor for the most part, however, building the grounded, direct tone perfectly and supporting it with a loose, sincere atmosphere. The instrumentation itself is similarly off kilter to the vocals in a lot of places, with some purposeful use of dissonance and noise throughout the tracklist.
The writing is a strong facet of this project, with Zoh Amba pulling no punches in bringing some real, straightforward, but genuine imagery and storytelling that serves as the backbone of the spirit of this record and its reflection of their rural Tennessee roots and the lives of people and communities who have had a similar background or upbringing. It’s put together in a compelling way and is easy to connect with.
Overall, “Eyes Full” is a brave move for Zoh Amba, one that takes on a radically different direction, and one that they mostly execute well. There is still room for improvement when it comes to certain aspects of the delivery, but this album definitely shows potential if Amba decides to continue going down this path of guitar-based vocal music – the rawness and singular lyricism that they bring are very unique and make them stand out from other artists, and they are clearly very skilled when it comes to composition too.
7.0/10
