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CD Review-Emily Ayn's Blah

Ian Caruth

Emily Ayn

Blah

(Knot Known)

Two stars

On her debut release, 17-year-old Emily Ayn shows she has potential, but must overcome the usual teenage emotional pitfalls - especially angst regarding her parents - if she is to become a major singer-songwriter.

Ayn has a good voice, pretty and emotive, but she does have the confidence to really energize any of the 13 tracks on this accurately-titled album. The awful production does not help, mixing the tracks poorly and drenching everything in a heavy reverb.

Still, Ayn's appeal cannot help but come through. The tracks - mostly acoustic-guitar driven - display a nice melodicism even as they fall into singer-songwriter clichˇs. The songs predictably and immaturely deal with love going bad - "I don't know you" includes the line "you showed me how to cry" - and her parents divorce.

There is no ignoring Ayn's weaknesses; she can be maudlin, and seems unafraid to let her writing slide into teenage self-indulgence. She also seems content with writing the same song over and over, which makes this album an orgy of mid-tempo, meandering folky rockers, wispy and introspective.

The music market is crowded with acoustic singer-songwriters, some of considerably greater talent than Ayn - Cat Power (Chan Marshall) and Elliott Smith come to mind.

Ayn is just barely out of high school though, and has plenty of time to develop personally and musically. With some maturation of her song-craft and better (or at least more distinct) production, Ayn's pretty voice and confessional honesty could gain a modest following.