Christa Gniadek’s third full length album Leaving Boston offers more of her soft, sweet, ethereal voice. Wrapped in country, roots, Americana tunefulness, Gniadek’s voice remains the guiding light, fitting her melody lines like a glove. For Americana music fans looking for a voice to fall in love with and for label execs looking for another Jewel to make money off of, yep, this girl is a for real answer to your prayers. This singer should probably try to get on one of today’s currently popular TV singing competition shows.
Opening cut “It’s Not Right” finds Gniadek griping pleasantly about a fellow who misleads her. Despite the swipe at a not so honest boy, her vocal remains silky smooth as it travels over an elastic groove from an upright bass, a slyly gliding fiddle ling, and a perky electric guitar twang. The contrast between her mellifluous vocal and the song’s bouncy, shuffling beat serves to highlight her fetching singing voice as well as the fun, bumpy ride of this number.
“I Had You” finds Gniadek singing in a more lush timbre within her vocal projection. Her voice is almost a different instrument on this second track because she fills it with an emotive fullness. To be born with a voice like hers is a unique blessing. To learn to use it as well as she does here takes special insight. She knows just how much juicy tenderness to inject in her vocal melody line each time she makes a point to the person she’s singing about. She is also a good song crafter, filling this one in with a sensitive organ swirl, a nudge of bass, persistent, tasteful backbeats, and an alluring electric guitar melody.
“No Way Out” gives the singer a chance to float her lovely, lush vocal over a tuft of gentle organ, guitar, and rhythm section. Dreamy and fetching, Gniadek’s vocal line has a natural bounce, even as she gently projects it in this soft as a cloud drifting sensation. It’s uncanny how Gniadek can remain such a strong, alluring vocal point in a tune in which she doesn’t seem to be even trying to generate momentum. Her vocal is like a great painting in a fine arts museum, only needing to hang on the wall for its depths to be appreciated.
Gniadek uses her whispery vocal line to pay her respect to a special someone in “You.” Her coos and sustains just barely kiss the listener’s ears with their susurrant girlish charm. This is one song that you just can’t stop listening to. It is ear candy, taking hold of your attention and making you smile warmly at the singer’s earnest affection for her beloved.
“Never Let Me Go” has the prettiest, whistling guitar line. That six string sings its own sweet notes just beneath the vocal melody line, contrasting with each other well, putting even more emphasis on Gniadek’s vocal gifts while letting the guitar line ring out with its own personality.
Gniadek begins her tune “Love Like Ours” with a seductive 1-2-3-4 count. A little bit friskier here, in a subtle, sublime way, she sounds more into this guy than the other loves cited on this album. With sparse accompaniment, Gniadek’s whispery sweetness comes across with more fullness here. She fills the space well with her unique timbre simply by adding a sultriness and greater emotional honesty.
“Nothing Left” has a bit of rustic pluck beneath the vocal line. It’s sprawling guitar twang is nicely thinned out and rides well alongside Gniadek’s tender vocal application. She sings with such purity that it’s almost like her voice exists in a separate zone from her backing band, until the listener here’s her intriguing way of singing along to her accompaniment without necessarily leaning on it.
Gniadek reaches another vocal height on “Worst Kind Of Love.” She injects as much energy and passion as an old time torch singer, even though she maintains her self-restrained approach. With her potential power lying in wait just beneath the surface, Gniadek makes a strong vocal statement. She has to here. She’s taking to task a bad love, and that is a weighty matter for a good girl. Just listen to her honey sweet and smooth vocal ride over the fullness of her organ accompaniment.
Title track “Leaving Boston” is dressed up a little extra special. Knobby tom tom work, nimbly picked bass notes, and a singular country lead guitar line all tickle the ear with their sweet, percolating notes. Yet, it is Gniadek’s tenderness at the microphone that becomes the focal point of all of the rustic beauty swirling around here.
Closing track “The Road” is a beautifully sung piece with sparse accompaniment. Gniadek keeps her whispery smooth vocal in a self-restrained mode, making this feel almost like a folk song that lets its words speak for itself without a lot of forced inflection, enunciation, or vocal drama. Gniadek just lets the feeling flow freely from the depth of her soul without any excess of technique. That alone is enough to keep the listener glued to what is one of the prettiest voices in the New England music scene.
Gniadek offers a lot of vocal charm on this third full length, Leaving Boston. Check her out before it starts to become difficult to find tickets to her shows.
