Tenderfoot is a beautiful album from Without Gravity, full of slow, loping rural grooves and spectrally pretty vocals from lead singer Kalli (just Kalli). On this debut LP the Icelandic group explores the same expansively ethereal, uncluttered terrain that Irishman Damien Rice explored on his debut, O, but with a bit more of an alt-country bent at times. In "Beautiful Son" -- which moves along at a laid-back acoustic groove, Kalli's gorgeous, jazzy vocals floating atop it all -- the prettiness is in the hushed spaces. "Country," with its bright peals of acoustic slide and (relatively) upbeat shuffle, could be an outtake from Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker. In fact, the aforementioned albums, Heartbreaker and O, are good reference points for understanding the hushed beauty of the aptly monikered Without Gravity; it's all about acoustic grooves, barely grazed percussion, and pretty, pretty vocals on this enchantingly atmospheric album. This LP, recorded primarily live in the studio -- with few alterations -- is packed with tunes for the beautifully downtrodden.
© Erik Hage /TiVo