Vanilla Abstract is all about the melodies. Like jazz music, each of the instruments take their turn. It takes inspiration from jazz (especially on the final track “Isn’t It Ugly”), and Erika Gersten has a voice that can belt like the jazz greats. The self-titled album is painfully short: painful because you love it so much you want to hear more. But its four songs are fully-realized alternative pop.
Like Coldplay before them (those virtuosos of pop melody), the ep opener is called “Yellow.” But it’s a song only a woman could write. “Oh, Yellow am I / because I’ve been denied my life.” I could be wrong, but the lyrics lead me to believe it’s about what it’s like being a woman living in a man’s world. “I know the schedule of the train / And I know your mind’s not bound to change.” Being asked to sing like a “pretty songbird,” assumed that her burdens need to be carried. But this protagonist, like the song’s composition, is strong. (Be warned: you’ll be singing the chorus for days.)
The next song, “Risks,” is a banger that recalls the super talented, jazz-influenced, avant garde artist, Merrill Garbus from Tune-Yards. Like a Paul Simon track there are African-like background vocals, oooing and ahhhing all over the track. It’s raw: “We met like a field amputation / With stitches on after the fact.” And its boldness is a matter of fact. “There’s no truth without a cost / There’s no truth without a cost / There’s no truth without a cost / So are you willing to pay?”
The third track slows it down and revolves, like Adelle, around a simple, “hello.” The chorus sounds like something Aimee Mann could come up, (a high compliment,) about forgetting to learn from other people’s mistakes. The lead guitar acts as another voice in the song, as compelling as Erika’s. Perhaps one of the sweetest parts on the album is the marimba that closes the song.
The final track, “Isn’t It Ugly,” might be the most emotive of the bunch. A good choice for a closer. “Spitfire / She was alive,” she sings out over drums that march and piano that pounds. It’s a jazzy tune, with as much longing as Billy Holiday. “Never had my fill / To find love / was to be killed.” The piano creates a wonderful counter melody towards the end. This is something that I would love to see performed live.
The whole ep would be wonderful live, I think. There is so much energy on these tracks. Wit and wisdom. But most of all fine-tuned singer songwriter sensibilities and genius composition. “It’s ugly to give up,” Erika closes out the album. And you can tell, this took a lot of work. Like I said, I wish there was more. The songs are so unique from one to the other, it would be fascinating to see what other tracks she could come up with. But I consider myself lucky that I’ve gotten to hear what I did. A solid album of original songs.
Prism Reviews 