SPOTIFY REVIEW: Lotte Kestner “The Bluebird of Happiness” (Saint Marie Records)

                2013 will be known to me as the year that I found out about Saint Marie Records and because of it, my life was never the same again.   It all began with the band Presents for Sally, who had their record released in the U.S. by SMR.   This lead me to check out the website, which lead me to discover releases from Panda Riot, Bloody Knives and other bands I loved all coming together in one place.

                This also helped me to find new music that I enjoyed, including Lotte Kestner, which is a name I knew from Band Camp but had now seen paired on a labeled with so many other favorite bands of mine.

                Throughout “The Bluebird of Happiness”, one of the two Lotte Kestner albums released this year, we are treated to music that has to go back to Cowboy Junkies and Mazzy Star because that’s where I always go for some reason, but there is that sense of ambience.    To a small extent, almost so much that it’s not worth noting, I do hear some Jewel come out as well, you know before she went all country. 

                This music also has a lot of soul and can come across as blues in a Billie Holiday sort of way.   That can also be displayed in the melancholy and somber tone of this album. 

                The lyrics also seem to tell stories in the vein of poetry and though there is a song called “Wrestler” it is not about her secret desire to be the Fabulous Moolah or anything but rather a metaphor. 

                Overall, I’m really glad to have found Saint Marie Records this year and amongst their other bands, Lotte Kestner is definitely one of the ones I am most happy to be acquainted with now.  

Buy the CD here:

http://saintmarierecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-bluebird-of-happiness