Audra Kubat
Million Year Old Sand
Times Beach Records

Audra Kubat is not one for big gestures. She sings in a hushed voice and her music is intimate and highly affecting. She's been compared to Cat Power and there's some truth to that. She has a similarly intense yet restrained approach to her music.

"Golden Sea" is gorgeously sad. Kubat's lovely voice and evocative guitar playing carry it well. "Georgia" is a little more up-tempo. Its words are of a complex and fascinating girl. "In the Morning" is just beautiful. Kubat resembles early Joni Mitchell here in voice and words.

"She Falls" has a spectacular bit where a multi-tracked vocal comes in and adds to the tension of the song. "Tomorrow never comes" tells of difficult love in a great way.

Million Year Old Sand is an album to treasure.

Copyright © 2004 Anna Maria Stjärnell