NECTAR, NATALIA CLAVIER
Rating: 70
by Carlos Reyes
Our site meter currently shows the city of Tempe (AZ) as the city with the most individual hits to our blog. That’s because of all my friends residing at Arizona State University; all of them, with no exception have found this album “dreamy”, “boring” and “lazy.” I don’t find it near sleepy at all; its soulful downtempo is an intended resource to actually make you listen. Nectar is a World Album; expect great outcome from that particular corner and not as much attention from others. Sweetness and contrasting instrumentation are found throughout an album that does a lot more than relaxing its listeners. It is however flawed by an inconsistent mixing that overuses echoing. First single “El Arbol” is quite sublime, is like having the instrumentation of Ceci Bastida’s Upfront and the composition of Ely Guerra’s Loto Fire. In the song we find acoustic guitars, piano, middle bass and a great deal of twists and turns that make this song a must-own. “Tu que puedes vuelvete” does great homage to the traditional music of Argentina, feels like an alien among the rest of the songs that even though carry influences of jazz and Brazil’s pop, they feel very contemporary. “Hasta el amanecer voy a permanecer entonando mi triste canción,” exclaims “Simple” another highlight of Clavier’s album in which she promises to stay up until morning rounding her sad song. Few weeks ago I reviewed The Greatest Hits by Acida, an album with very similar structure and feels much more enjoyable simply because it frees itself from wannabe glossiness found here. Nectar is always seductive and a great session of world music lounge enlightened by Natalia’s angelical voice.