The source of inspiration can be an interesting perspective into an artist’s project. Sometimes a big, life-changing event forces a new way of looking at things. Other times a small detail becomes the crux of a new viewpoint. Both of those figure into the new album from Chattanooga native Teni Rane. Ostensibly guided by the arc from summer to fall, the record also pulls from some of the more ordinary moments in life.
The title track to Goldenrod imagines a dance through a flower-saturated meadow toward new things in life while influenced by your journey so far. Or as Rane puts it, “I’ve heard everything changes, I don’t think it’s true.” Like many of the cuts, it’s easily classified as a folk music, but with orchestral highlights frequently provided by Dave Eggar’s cello. You hear that same sound on Firefly, where the elusive insect is a reminder to live in the moment. Killing the Blues applies that style to an often-covered number by Rowland Salley. Return to Dust steps up the complexity, nearly symphonic in its layering, reflective of the idea that you should grow and improve what you can and don’t sweat the other stuff.
Caramel comes from one of those smaller moments, where a full moon “in its whiskey glow” saturates the world in sepia tones. Rane’s normally soaring vocals here provide a touch of mysterious seductiveness appropriate to the night sky. The piano instead of the cello provides aural emphasis in Small Steps, about choosing the right path not the easy one. Electric guitar adds some tension on So Beautiful, where letting go of summer is the basic requirement for embracing fall, and an analogy for accepting change. Don’t Look Down is a treatise on hope, where you can’t stop dreaming just because of current circumstance.
Teni Rane first came to my attention a few years ago when she released a Christmas-themed single, Rosemary and Evergreen. Her voice naturally embraces a wide range of styles, from soft, acoustic, singer-songwriter numbers to anthemic tributes of one form or another. Somehow she injects a comforting spirit across that spectrum to where warm familiarity is a defining characteristic. That’s abundantly evident in her debut full-length album. So when you’re ready to contemplate fall this year, or a big life change, give Goldenrod a listen.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.