Breath From Another

It's a credit to Esthero's skills that her sultry debut is still remembered seven years after its release, and in the shadow of a warm, funky follow-up. Most albums of this type fade into obscurity.

But Canadian trip-hoppist Esthero, with the help of producer Doc, manages to create a unique musical experience in "Breath From Another": chilly trip-jazz, with sexy lyrics and some hip-hop flavourings. The songwriting can be hit-and-miss, but the music and Esthero's singing are wonderful.

It opens on a diverse note in the title track: slow trippy beats and waves, which rapidly rev up into a hip-hop sound. Esthero's voice starts off breathy, but after she launches into a throaty rap, her vocals gain substance and strength. "Don't compromise what's gold/For the soul you never sold," she croons over and over.

Several songs of the songs that follow could be classified as pop music, like the catchy "That Girl" and James-Bondian interlude "Flipher Overture." But Esthero never leaves behind trip-hop and hip-hop, both of which flicker up in various songs.

But other styles crop up over the course of the album: pure soft electronica, dancey jazz, trippy Latin, and others. The only unifying style here is trip-hop. As a result, a few songs simply don't fit in: "Country Livin' (The World I Know)" moves too slow and has too few beats thrown in, so it feels vaguely out of place.

Canadian Esthero herself sounds a lot like Icelandic pop star Emiliana Torrini, who also has made a career out of electic styles. Her voice can be throaty or sweet, depending on the song. Doc (with whom she has since parted ways) produced a beautiful array of songs for her to sing, with everything from electronica to harp.

And Esthero's sweet voice can bring a surprising sense of innocence to some very sexual songs. And some truly beautiful ones as well: "My mouth is clean, my hands are dirty/Heaven isn't on my side," she sings mournfully at one point. But the lyrics here are not quite as even as her later work; the second half has some songs that sound a bit silly. "Stay awhile longer sweet tongue of fur and feather/There is a white breast waiting for you here" -- what?

Esthero's trippy, jazzy debut is a mad melange of styles and sounds, and the sometimes-uneven lyrics can't bog down a very talented singer. Definitely worth checking out.

This disk does a wonderful job of blending hip-hop, rock-ish, and latin rhythms and sounds into a pallet of very smooth music that seems to get better with repeated listening.
The singer has a gorgeous voice that sort of reminds me of Björk's or Emiliana Torrini's, and she can sing out, as well, like both of said singers.
The opening song is sort of Nelly Furtado-ish but a lovely listening experience, and "Heaven Sent" is a great rocking, stirring song with perceptive lyrics. Other songs such as "That Girl", "Country Livin' (The World I Know)" and "Swallow Me" retain a sort of jazzy sound, while the breezy "Half A World Away" really shows Latin influence.
Well done, and I know I'm sure to love it even more over time :)

I'm a person who prefers the now sort of dormant trip hop genre of music... That music style has always had a bit of tough time getting into mainstream which is fine, but it's also a shame with so many talented groups going unrecognized. Having said that, Esthero is a good amalgamation of trip hop, chill music, a pinch of rap, which I'm very picky about, and even a little hard rock. I particularly love the songs Breath From Another, Heaven Sent, and Country Livin. I think if anyone could get this style of music revived again it's Esthero.

She has an almost Bjork like voice at times, or a Lisa Stansfield feel, and there's a jazzy undercurrent which is cool and unique mixed with all the other sounds.

The first several songs or so (except for Anywayz) are great, good beats, definately worthy of playing in the car.. I'm disappointed in the 2nd half of the CD where the song quality seems to trail off except for a fairly decent Indigo Boy.

Overall though, it's hard to find a CD with more than one song worth playing so I don't regret buying it.