Kittens Slay Dragons - Big Big Heart (2017)

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Written by Frank McClure, posted by blog admin

Electropop typically takes some hits as a shallow musical form, but Sarah Donner’s ten song effort with musical cohort $hClane! Big Big Heart takes chances with a much derided vehicle and makes them pay off thanks to her immense style with this sound and the substantive value of her songwriting. Artists who bring something of themselves, to varying degrees, into their songwriting are invariably artists with longevity and meaningful emotional settings sure to touch all but the hardest of hearts. The superb production she’s invested on these songs pays off as well – it’s intensely physical music at any volume, but never aggressive. Kittens Slay Dragons, instead, craft music of great intimacy and it’s propelled by songwriting certain to engage its admirers on multiple levels. By any standards, this is an impressive achievement.

The keyboard swirl opening “Gatekeeper” sets a brightly lit stage for Donner’s profoundly emotive voice. She does an excellent job incorporating the distinctive sound of her singing alongside the electronic backing and the lyrics lose nothing in this environment. She excels, especially, with the song’s chorus and sounds completely responsive to the music’s movement. This is one of the album’s more fully realized efforts and gets Big Big Heart off to an exceptional start. The electronic inclinations of the music continue with the second song “Castiel” and are accompanied by a throbbing bass that anchors everything else around it to a solid foundation. The glittering keyboard textures might strike a false note in the hands of lesser talents, but Donner clearly understands how to incorporate them into her music for maximum effect. “Smile Pretty” begins in a much more pensive fashion than the aforementioned opening duo, but it still deserves mention as one of the album’s marquee efforts. Donner’s voice is an amazing instrument capable of being highlighted to its fullest potential no matter what style she opts to explore. Using her vocals in this electronic environment imparts some much needed humanity to the design of this music and gives it a theatrical veneer many other efforts in this vein lack.

The title song begins in much of the same thoughtful way that set the opening for “Smile Pretty” apart. It is natural to assume that the title song of a release is, somehow, meant to be interpreted as the album’s definitive musical and lyrical statement. In a sense, this song qualifies. Donner does an excellent lyrical job of summing up many of the driving passions and thematic concerns informing the songwriting on Big Big Heart. The uptempo opening of “Under the Waves” gives this song a decidedly different texture than many of the more deliberate numbers preceding it and the additional vocal duet factor gives this song a very different feel than many of the album’s other tracks. The sprightly bounce of the final “Head Down, Heart Up” shares some similarities with a more electronically inclined Regina Spektor, but it never risks imitation. Donner’s uniquely emotional approach has a wonderful effect once again and works quite well with the song’s electronic backing. It’s a wonderfully solid ending to Big Big Heart and one can only hope that Donner revisits this side of her musical identity as soon as it makes sense.