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Kylie V is a singer/songwriter from
Vancouver. Kylie has a few EPS, another album,
and then Crash Test Plane, all
released since 2018. Not the most productive
artist, but sometimes quality over quantity is
a good thing.
Kylie V makes pleasant folkish pop. There is
a lot of competition in this genre, and this
record engages me slightly more than many such
records. That is -- I think that Ms. V has a
nice voice, uses it well, has catchy tunes,
and can write some clever lyrics.
However, if you are not into this kind of
music, it probably won't stand out to you. if
you like this sort of thing, then you should
track this record down. Several of the tunes
here are really enjoyable.
The whole record starts off with a song
called Okanagan Peach. That first word
is pronounced "oak a noggin" and apparently is
a farming river valley east of Vancouver in
British Columbia. The tune is pretty catchy
with voice, strummed guitar, and pedal steel.
That is a formula she also used to great
effect on the title track, where the pedal
steel is paired with a nice rumbling bass
riff. Kylie really wails on the chorus as
well, so the song feels loud in the middle.
I really like the track Year of the
Rabbit, where a horn wanders in to
accompany Kylie's guitar and voice. The horn
makes the song tranquil and mellow. On Runaway
there is a keyboard added to increase the
depth of the tune. On Wish I Was In Bed
the guitar wavers under a grungey distortion,
which goes nice with Kylie's singing. On Swimming
Pool a mess of strings rises up to
surround Kylie's voice to make the song epic
and loud.
I also really enjoy the song Lucky Streak,
where the band backing Kylie really go at it.
They build a nice groove, and towards the end
Kylie is shouting, trying to forcefully
declare the lucky streak. Makes you wonder who
the song is trying to convince.
But there are no bad songs here. The other
tracks tend to reference folky pop singers
like Phoebe Bridgers or Alex the Astronaut.
Kylie V is a nice addition to this genre.
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