One Track Mind

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Sarah Jaffe may be a relative newcomer to the music scene–her debut full-length, Suburban Nature, was released only a few weeks ago on Kirtland Records–but the Denton, TX songwriter’s indie bona fides already run deep. Her 2008 Even Born Again EP won her the mantle of Best Solo Act and a handful of other prizes from The Dallas Observer’s annual awards ceremony, as well as opening tour slots for artists including Midlake, Norah Jones, and upcoming support spots for two little acts named Dinosaur, Jr. and Lou Barlow.

Despite scarcely being old enough to buy a beer, Jaffe’s work possesses a maturity and poise which belie the relative nascency of her career. Blending alt-folk tendencies with powerful indie-rock gusto, her songs flirt lasciviously with what is perhaps best identified as a mainstream, VH-1 pop sensibility, but the flirting never leads to anything serious. At the end of the day, Jaffe’s music is too uncompromising to hang with that crowd.

Suburban Nature was produced by John Congleton, who lends the orchestral flourishes he honed with Explosions in the Sky and The Polyphonic Spree to Jaffe’s more bare-bones approach. On tracks like “Better Than Nothing,” one sees just how delectable a marriage the two produce, with the barely there whispers of Jaffe’s verses serving as a foil to the musical thrills of Congleton’s layered choruses. It’s only natural to invoke other female-fronted bands in relation to Sarah Jaffe’s music (Emily Jane White immediately springs to mind), but the boys in Midlake and Shearwater–another act Congleton has produced–make for equally solid reference points. “Better Than Nothing” is an graceful dance blending restraint and power, intimacy and exhibitionism. Combined with the confessional streak of Jaffe’s lyricism, it all makes for an engrossing, affecting listen.