Artist: The Paula Kelley Orchestra (The PKO)
Release: July 29, 2008
As I was baking christmas cookies and listening to my sweet-ass "Cookie Baking Play List", it dawned on me that I had not shared The Paula Kelley Orchestra's Airports EP with you. I love the shit out of this little four song collection. Not only that, but upon further reading, I find out that the one and only Aaron Tap produced, played guitar and sang on this EP. No wonder I love it! I'm starting to think that what I'm really looking for is an Aaron Tap album.
Paula Kelley (who is rather a musical jack-of-all-trades) has this totally innocent, high-pitched, child-like voice, but the affairs of the heart that she sings about are all grown up. The juxtaposition between the two is just incredible.
The songs explore many facets of romantic relationships, from the intimacy and naivety of young love in "Airports" to the question of will we be together forever in "Life for Life". Listening to the lyrics, which are more clever and well-crafted than most, I get the feeling that Ms. Kelley is kind of like Katie in The Way We Were. For instance, in "Life for Life", there is the line, "when I'm gone would you call it serene or, do you find that the house is too clean?" And then there is pretty much the entire song "In Light of Your Less Complicated Life". But even though the lyrics give me the feeling that maybe she's a little unruly, when I hear her sing about it, I just know that the guy who hurt her is a heartless son of a bitch.
These songs are definitely not your average everyday radio fodder, which is probably why I love them so much. Paula Kelley will never be mistaken for anyone else and that's awesome. The rich orchestral arrangements involve a ton of instruments and lend a depth of sound and emotion to these songs that you just don't find out there. The PKO's music is a showcase of a remarkable amount of talent - and it is simply delightful to listen to!
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