Send "Priscilla Ahn " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 What is perhaps most remarkable about this sophomore full length from Priscilla Ahn is the artist’s ability to craft contemporary confessional songs that are honest without being abrasive; gentle yet capable of achieving maximum emotional impact. A large part of growing up is arriving at a comfortable level of self-honesty, and this becomes one of the album’s thematic centers. Witness “One Day I Will Do”, in which the protagonist admits not only to her own confusion with the world around her but also her own fragility, her own imperfections, and her ability to recognize both. She also breaks through self-deception with aplomb on “I Don’t Have Time To Be In Love”, a track that is as sadly beautiful as anything on Aimee Mann’s Bachelor No. 2. In fact, if there’s a single obvious influence found here it’s Mann –– whether the aforementioned tracks, the “One”-ish “I Will Get Over You”, or the guiltless celebration of lust and longing, “Vibe So Hot” (written by the inimitable Benji Hughes). Ahn also gets to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with peers Eleni Mandell and Inara George, two women who are currently crafting records that are unapologetically rooted in tradition –– in fact, Ahn wouldn’t be out of place as a member of The Living Sisters beside Mandell and George. Her collaboration with George, “City Lights (Pretty Lights)” is a gentle, acoustic number carried by a haunting melody and lilting guitar figure which combine to lend a sense of timelessness to the number. And her collaboration with Mandell, “Oo La La”, carries an emotional weight and wit that belie the tune’s throwaway title. Growing up, of course, doesn’t mean that one has to lose touch with their imaginative self, which Ahn demonstrates in “Elf Song”, in which she shows off the full power of her overwhelmingly pure voice. Although it helps that the material here is of a rather high quality, it also helps that producer Ethan Johns (The Jayhawks, Ryan Adams, Laura Marling) recognizes that the real strength here is Ahn’s voice. Unencumbered by the trappings of over-production or sub-par material, Ahn’s voice creates an unbreakable bridge of intimacy between listener and artist. ...full text |
| Lyricshall |
| On her new release When You Grow Up (out May 3rd on Blue Note Records), Ahn steps past the all-around showcase of her debut and lays down a lovingly-knitted concept album, a 12-song cycle starting from the jungle gym of adolescence and slowly winding through a toybox of themes, from life’s direction to love both new and worn to, well, growing up. But this is all academic; When You Grow Up is not an album to be mused upon like a wall painting, it is music to pick up and foxtrot around the room with, to use for making sandcastles, to take to the curio shop. And it’s an unabashedly honest portal from our childhood hopes and dreams to whatever comes after. Amazing and form-fitted production and arrangements are contributed to this album by Ethan Johns. He always finds the perfect sounds to frame the song, and each of these tracks is skillfully adorned with as much or as little accoutrement as is precisely needed, from the strings on “Lost Cause” to the barely-discernable blip-beat on the jaunty “Oo La La” and on and on. Priscilla pulls in some choice friends and collaborators as well, including Eleni Mandell, Jake Blanton, Sia Furler, Inara George (The Bird and the Bee), and serves up a charming duet with singer/songwriter Charlie Wadhams. And, of course, her trademark backing vocals and loops pop up in just the right places to weave in backdrops of slight and shimmering grace. The songs themselves form a comfortably cohesive arc all the way through, each advancing the narrative through its own character. The opening title track sets the tone perfectly with elementary-school imagery and playful piano bounding down the hopscotch path. “One Day I Will Do” wonders wide-eyed which path to take; “Oo La La” is a carefree mosey through an unplanned sunny afternoon in the city. Ahn’s rendering of Benji Hughes’ “Vibe So Hot” is a smoldering surprise, silkenly cooing to her love, You can have me really anytime you want / I want you now over a bouncy keyboard groove. “City Lights (Pretty Lights)” advances a few years and sheds some naiveté (with a serenely operatic bonus exitlude), and both “I Don’t Have Time to Be in Love” and “Cry Baby” question love in its turns, the former in innocent lament and the latter with a darker edge and killer lead-off hook. “Lost Cause” soul-searches to an almost country feel and breath-taking strings and backing vox, leading to a gorgeous, layered return to an “Empty House” which is almost a tone poem in its lonely, restrained resignation; meanwhile “I Will Get Over You” makes smart use of a minor-major shift to quietly assert its confidence in the aftermath. “The Elf Song” is a standalone piece of pixie poetry, a wispy waltz with an endearing ending. The album glides gracefully to a close with Ahn looking back and resignedly intoning You were my one and only / The only one I ever learned to love on the fittingly-titled “Torch Song,” pulling the curtain on a truly wonderful and more focused second album....full text |
| Music-discussion |
| There’s no denying Priscilla Ahn’s voice. Crystalline and pitch-perfect, it’s the sort of classic-sounding soprano that belongs to an earlier decade, when folksingers wore flowers in their hair and sang songs about free love. Ahn is the product of a more current generation, but she fills her second album with songs that are just as timeless, from stripped-down Laurel Canyon folk tunes to lightly orchestrated chamber pop ballads. There’s plenty of acoustic guitar here, as well as soft splashes of piano, lap steel, and strings, but Ahn’s vocals are the focal point. She saturates When You Grow Up with double- and triple-tracked harmonies, and most of the songs’ instrumental hooks are sung rather than played, creating a sound that’s ornate but still intimate. She duets with Charlie Wadhams on “I Don’t Have Time to Be in Love,” tips her hat to former collaborator Benji Hughes with a slow, sexy cover of “Vibe So Hot,” and co-writes with singers like Inara George, Sia Furler, and Eleni Mandell on some of the album’s best songs. Yet despite the heavy guest list, When You Grow Up still feels more personal than Ahn’s 2008 debut, which found her dabbling in indie pop, torch songs, and Norah Jones-styled jazz. She focuses on folk this time around, consolidating her strengths while exploring every quirky corner of the genre....full text |
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