Leading up to the release of her debut album, singer and songwriter
Kate Bollinger issued no less than four EPs, signing with
Ghostly International for the fourth, after her gentle, jazz-inflected pop attracted the attention of
Kanye West, resulting in a songwriting credit on his
Donda LP. For her full-length coming-out (also on
Ghostly), she not only remains loyal to a crafted, sophisticated, and soft-footed presentation but maunders even further into soft, pillowy textures, including a vocal delivery sometimes so gossamer as to barely uphold the melodies. She also takes her EPs' 1960s and '70s singer/songwriter inspirations to the next level with help from contributors including
Matthew E. White,
Sam Evian,
Adam Brisbin (
Buck Meek,
Katie von Schleicher), and longtime collaborator
Jacob Grissom. With a title that captures the lyrics' searching, stream-of-consciousness quality,
Songs from a Thousand Frames of Mind opens with an
Elephant 6-inspired outlier, "What's This About (La La La La)," that embraces a livelier, more forward-leaning posture while remaining distinctly dulcet-toned. Hushed is an understatement, however, by second track "To Your Own Devices," a floaty entry recorded live to tape with organ, touches of piano, quiet rhythm guitar, droplet bass, and brush-struck snare accompaniment that's representative of most of the album. Elsewhere,
Bollinger picks up the tempo on the more
Beatlesque "Any Day Now," a song co-written with
White; she inhabits a playful waltz on segments of "Postcard from a Cloud"; employs something closer to her full voice on the likewise episodic "I See It Now," another
White co-write; and gets a wee bit bluesy on "Sweet Devil" while still half-whispering her vocals. This is to say that there's enough variety here to hold interest despite the album's utterly ethereal surfaces, which are bound to hit more like a sedative than a diversion for many. ~ Marcy Donelson
