Pamela Sue Mann, L'oeuf

As I said on Tuesday, I made an impulse buy last Thursday before attending the show at Oasis. Something about the album caught my fancy in an indescribable way. Maybe it was the jet black hardcover book-style case, or the French title on the front and nothing on the back but a picture of the artist. The only idea I had as to what I was getting into was the review clipped from Chronogram that was taped to the first copy on the shelf. Plus, the name sounded nice: Pamela Sue Mann. Usage of middle name is considered pretentious in some circles, but if it sounds good, why not go with it?

From what I've read, Pamela Sue Mann is a local artist residing in High Falls, married to Gerry Leonard (who produced L'oeuf and has performed with David Bowie, among others(note some of the guitar work reminds me of Heathen, and there's a reason for that)), and apparently she did a live performance last October in Rhino Records. My question: where in Rhino? The place is a glorified shoebox, a hole in the wall with no place to set up a musician of any variety, unless you duct-taped her to the ceiling. Also, L'oeuf was assembled from songs written and recorded over the past couple years, but only released in 2007. It is her second album.

The first song (and title track) is probably my favorite since it's got a nice fuzzy guitar driving the track. The intro to "ivy" grabbed me. "... is a lifetime" also nabbed me from the start and stood out for being driven by loops and distortions, unlike most of the album. "Amen" is superb. However, I can't say L'oeuf really blowing my mind. But that's not really what it's supposed to be doing, is it? No, this is meant to sweep me away on a gentle breeze. Admitted, with the Chronogram review, I was expecting something a bit more distorted and guitar-driven, but I am not disappointed with what I wound up with as opposed to where my hyperactive imagination was trying to take me before even listening to the CD.

It strikes me as being in a similar vein as various ethereal wave musicians blended with a kind of girly-girl singer-songwriters. At times, this sounds kind of like a watered-down Cocteau Twins with less distorted and soaring guitar work and Lisa Loeb on vocals. Other times, more like a more gothic romantic-fashioned straight-up singer-songwriter. Not to say that any of that is bad, but people with no tolerance for higher pitched female voices will find this ear-splittingly annoying. The rest of us will tell the complainers to be quiet; we're trying to enjoy the music.

Already noted is the album packaging, fashioned as a hardcover book with full liner notes and lyrics in a really nice handwriting and script fonts. All photography is black and white; point in fact, those are the only colors to appear on this album. Nothing but class from front to back. It matches the music very nicely. Supposedly, the disc is enhanced with a bonus video, but I have not checked that out at this time.

What L'oeuf is, from where I'm standing, is beautiful. It's sweet without being artificial, a touch dark as needed, and a whole lot of gothic romantic. L'oeuf is perfectly pleasant, enjoyable, and more than worth listening to. It's worth getting lost in, at least for awhile. Catch that breeze and float off.



Pamela Sue Mann's myspace page that hasn't been accessed since June of last year, and her website that doesn't look like it's been updated since about the same time.

album cover image ganked from CDBaby's Pamela Sue Mann L'oeuf page