White Magic – Dat Rosa Mel Apibus

Sometimes a voice lies right on the tracks as the music barrels right over its wispy corpse. Other times a voice presents itself so loudly that it pushes the music to background in a showy display of dominance. And, perhaps least often, a voice and musical accompaniment complement each other, taking turns at center stage stepping up, fading away, and coalescing into a pretty crescendo. White Magic, with Del Rosa Mel Apibus, exists firmly in the last realm.

Mira Billotte’s voice leads White Magic through this beautiful album. It’s deep, sultry quality envelopes the listener, while the music’s blues/country/folk vibe never bores. I don’t know who plays the drums, piano, guitar, and random assortment of other instruments that dot Del Rosa Mel Apibus, but Billotte and Sleepy Doug Shaw do an excellent job setting the mood with little instrumentation, almost like an old-timey saloon on codeine. While the music isn’t exactly up-tempo, it’s not molasses insipidly sliding into the ears.

The songs almost melt into each other, too. Not in the sense that’s the album is linked by segues, but through the common feel mined in the songs. Standout “All the World Went” has an Indian tinge to it. It mourns and storms like a thundercloud in the desert (too cheesy?). Billotte’s melismata arc and circle and ache atop the piano accents and droning strings. The effect is arresting.

The music grows lusher as the album continues, but this does little to hurt the stark appeal of the opening tracks. Del Rosa Mel Apibus is a truly engaging listen. Both chill and charged, the album succeeds in balancing disparate characteristics by exploring different moods and instrumentations. Del Rosa Mel Apibus fits nicely into a night alone spent drinking three bottles of wine, letting Billotte’s voice floats about your head like a specter.