CD Reviews

Jeff Hanson

Madam Owl | Kill Rock Stars

By MICHAEL PATRICK BRADY | August 19, 2008

3.0 Stars

Much has been made of Jeff Hanson’s voice, a silky soprano from the throat of a 30-year-old man that’s as startling as the falsetto of Death Vessel’s Joel Thibodeau. (See Richard Beck’s review of Nothing Is Precious Enough for Us.) You’d almost think a woman or a young boy was singing. But that’s not Madam Owl’s only distinction. Hanson has augmented the sparse, acoustic folk of his previous albums with a backdrop of strings and horns, thus giving these songs greater depth and body. On “If Only I Knew,” he sharpens the focus with a plucky banjo that cultivates a playful, welcoming tone. In the background, trumpets swell and recede, subtle, yet providing a necessary push. “Maryann” finds him unaccompanied, and the combination of his æthereal voice and the song’s music-box melody is entrancing. Under the microscope, Hanson’s voice has a flat affect; this lack of dynamics means a lack of variety. Nevertheless, Madam Owl is carried by his excellent songcraft and pleasantly delicate arrangements.

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