eva: a long way (2009)

Eva
A Long Way •••
Birdgirl

Not well known on these shores, Eva Meijer, who goes by just plain Eva, is far more famous in her native Netherlands. A Long Way is her third album in as many years, and it is on the back of this that the English public are gradually becoming more aware of her music. She fits comfortably in the established mould of girl plus piano, sounding frighteningly like Judith Owen and, at times, Sia. Whether that, plus the delicately alien phrasing that adorns her sung English, is enough to differentiate her from the pack is a tricky question to answer. In parts, yes; in others, no. Take the cruel mistress that is fashion into account and you have a ‘maybe’.

Singer-songwriters are, after all, so 1990s. Ironically, there are probably more of them than ever, but they take names reminiscent of bands and serve up rich, textured, character-driven music. We’ve moved a million miles from the uncluttered, confessional territory that was dominated by giants like Tori Amos. Eva harks back to that era. She speaks directly. This is not an album rich in the metaphorical or the allegorical, as the title-track opener testifies: “With my hands I’ll show you where I’ve been / with my heart I’ll show you how I sing.” Accompanied typically by piano, the effect is one of sparse sadness, depicting a mind in deep reflection. At times it’s a little suffocating for lack of variety and a little too reminiscent of other artists; ‘Where The Pigeons Go’, for example, opens so much like Sia’s ‘Breathe Me’ that it’s quite a shock when the famous lyrics don’t kick in.

Midway through the album, ‘Wrong With Me’ brings the perfect relief in the form of a violin counter-melody, á la Vaughn Williams. The result is quite startling, much like watching a black and white movie for two hours and having the final, happy scene flooded with colour. It’s probably the only point at which Eva punches her way into such remarkable territory, and even then it is difficult to tell whether this is due to the song itself or the fact that is framed for emotional impact by its spartan neighbours. A Long Way gets back to business as usual after this peak. To be fair to Eva, she does introduce some variety with the Wurlitzer and guitar, but they are used in the same sparing way as the piano, so add very little to a needed sense of richness. It is nice to hear her sing in Dutch on ‘Hondjie’ and perform a spoken-word poem on ‘Seen From The Sky’ (though the latter lacks the necessary punch); the trouble is, it feels a little too late.

A Long Way is a pleasing listen, but there are times when the feeling of missed opportunity tends to overshadow the moments of crystalline beauty. With such a rich, earthy voice and a natural talent for songwriting, Eva has such scope for variety and emotional subtlety that its absence tends to grab more attention than the perfectly pleasant album that she has dished up.

Scott Sinclair
Available on import only; www.myspace.com/evamusic

Written by: Wears The Trousers magazine

Tags: eva meijer, scott sinclair

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 11:13 am and is filed under albums & EPs, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.