ex·trav·a·gance - excessive elaborateness of style, speech, or action.
In a review I read about Urban Flora, it was described as “R&B-infused downtempo electronic music stripped of extravagance.”
I got a small nudge from my subconscious that something “stripped of its extravagance” carried a negative connotation. Until I looked up the dictionary definition of the word and realized that for this certain description, there couldn’t be anything more spot on.
Alina Baraz’s collaboration with Danish producer Galimatias was every bit a match made in musical heaven. The album, released this May, was the first from Ohio-born singer/song writer Alina Baraz. The intent is to make the listener feel like they’re taking an enchanting walk through a moonlit forest. I don’t want to sound sappy, but there really is no other way to describe this album. Not only are the vocals sensual and purposely seductive, but the melody of each song brings in so many different elements of sound that can only be heard if you pay close attention in a relaxing atmosphere.
Personally the best way to enjoy Urban Flora is popping in some earbuds in a quiet, dimly lit room by yourself and just feeling it. The different pieces in each song fit together in a mysterious way that can’t be heard properly without listening very carefully. As a whole, each track flows into the next seamlessly and takes the listener on a journey through their deepest desires.
The second song on the eight track album, “Drift”, begins with the subtle sounds of what might be fire blown by the wind, before she begins her first line with:
“I only miss you when the sun goes down
oh, your voice is my favorite sound
swaying like the palm trees
you and me we’re poetry
painting stories with our lips”
It’s like honey. Something magical and sweet that Baraz & Galimatias bring to life. Baraz sings feelings that many people only know how to express physically. She is asking you to “undress her mind” when listening to these tracks and you do accomplish that by the end, as well as finding your own mind becoming undressed in the process.
Pay attention to these tracks:
“Drift”
“Fantasy”
“Make You Feel”
