Kacey Johansing is based in San Francisco, after having grown up in Colorado and moved to Boston. The 25-year-old singer/songwriter makes references to all of these locales in the songs on her debut album,
Many Seasons, mentioning the Charles River here and Market Street there. She sings those songs in a warm, lazy voice reminiscent of
Rickie Lee Jones and
Norah Jones. The songs have chamber pop arrangements usually based around keyboard chords. (This is the kind of album on which the keyboards are referred to by brand names -- Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, even Yamaha CP-30, instead of just being called "electric piano.")
Johansing's lyrics tend toward vague, dreamy romantic reminiscences, appropriate to the music and the way she sings. It's all pleasant enough, but doesn't really answer the question why the world needs another classically trained young female singer/pianist. If
Johansing makes more records, maybe she will find a way to distinguish herself. ~ William Ruhlmann