Get Out From Under the Rock

If you didn’t experience the Pomplamoose Youtube Explosion of ’08, well…were you perhaps living under a rock? A rock with no Internet? You poor soul. It’s all going to be okay. The masterful indie pop-arranger Nataly Dawn has come out with a solo album that will serve an excellent primer for all the fun you missed.

Here’s the skinny: Nataly Dawn is THE example of the New Music Model, right up there with Amanda Palmer. Her collaborative project with Jack Conte i.e. Pomplamoose acquired a tremendous online fanbase by  posting inventively arranged and cleverly filmed cover songs. These VideoSongs had two main rules: 1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice), and 2. If you hear it, at some point, you see it. Nataly’s magical and distinctive vocal sound was suddenly all over every Facebook feed and car commercial.

The fact is, if you like Nataly’s voice, she could sing the ingredient list from an Oreo package and it would be utterly charming. But How I Knew Her offers more than just a pretty voice. It’s groovy, it’s folksy, spooky and funky; it’s simple and deeply complex all at once. It opens with “Araceli,” a satisfying combo of bluegrass and playground sounds. The rest of the record continues to deliver this delicious feeling – from sparse and lonely guitar moments to bridges stacked with strings and reverberating harmonies, How I Knew Her hits the spot.

Standout songs include “Counting Down,” a sad and sometimes creepy little number, dripping with longing and bassy string sounds. Uptempo “Please Don’t Scream,” is equally sassy and sensible, as Nataly tells her fella to shut up. Boppy and old-timey “Still a Believer” is another winner with adorably cheeky lyrics; a perfect tune for dressing up and swinging around a dance floor.

You can gorge yourself on what Nataly’s got to offer your eardrums and never be a glutton. This is good music, homegrown and Kickstarter funded – and it’s damn good. So get out from under the rock and get the record, already.