I’ve seen Beth Bombara perform a few times and always really enjoyed it. She’s not just a good singer-songwriter, but she has a stage charisma that quickly warms up the audience. I was looking forward to her new album, but in a twist on the old “don’t judge a book by its cover”, I realized just how much more I was missing. Besides being a songstress and vocalist, she plays a mean guitar and has some mad production skills. All of that is showcased on the new record, It All Goes Up.
The CD opens with Moment, an emerging-from-Covid number where the development time of a Polaroid snapshot is a metaphor for taking time to enjoy life. It’s a bright, airy, pop/folk style that plays frequently across the album. Lonely Walls is another post-pandemic observation about the realization that the broad desire to just get out is really about getting out to see someone in particular. It’s more rock than folk and starts to expose you to Bombara and her band’s guitar work. Get On and Electricity also feature different styles of guitar. Everything I Wanted pulls you back to the 70’s with what we would have called a radio friendly sound back in the day.
Sonically pushing the record’s envelope, Give Me A Reason pairs a sultry lead vocal with a grungy guitar, and is something I want to hear more of. Going the other direction, Curious and Free is an acoustic piece about the arc of restless teenager as she escapes her hometown but eventually gets pulled back to the inevitability of adulthood. What You Wanna Hear throws a light, care-free vibe over a troubled relationship where the singer just hopes “we skip the part where we start yelling.” I think my favorite song is Fade, a collaboration with John Calvin Abney. It’s an ode to someone so influential Bombara can “close my eyes and I still see you shining.” The song fades out with a heartbeat drumbeat that drives the message home.
Beth Bombara can affect a wide range of vocal deliveries, from lustful to laconic. It turns out she can pair that with an equally diverse set of songs and instrumental styles. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see her live, go get her newest record, It All Goes Up, and start building the anticipation.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.