Review Summary: Flower Face beats the odds.
Ah, transitional records. They’re pretty much a contradiction in and of itself for fans. On the one hand, the band whose debut they loved but whose sophomore record they felt to be too much of a repeat is now moving on to a new sound and new ambitions. On the other hand, everyone knows that moving on from a good sound is always going to lead to a mixed reaction. It leaves the artist in a bit of lose-lose situation: either way, it’s going to be difficult to pull off an album of equal measure from the back catalog.
Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, and thankfully, young folk artist Ruby, going by the name of Flower Face, is one of them. On her third album, Fever Dreams, the singer-songwriter steps out of her typical hazy bedroom stylings just a bit, opting instead to surround herself with some varied instrumentation that gives the songs presented a much more fleshed-out feel than her previous recordings. While this new ambition comes with its faults, mainly in the production (the drums, for instance, feel sort of lifeless and can be a bit of a detraction), songs such as “Virgin” and “Jupiter” feel almost grandiose in scale, relishing in the passionate-yet-simplistic songwriting Flower Face has honed since her debut. It’s another beautiful album that takes the best qualities of her previous, more folky recordings (the Daniel Johnston-esque acoustic strums; her airy, whispered vocals) and gives them a base with which to build a beautiful sound from. Flower Face is transitioning? I’m all for it.
