Theresa Andersson - Hummingbird, Go!

Melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre; these are the traditional building blocks of pop music. Yet although you will find them in abundance on Hummingbird, Go!, the new album by Theresa Andersson hardly sounds like conventional pop. That's because the New Orleans singer-songwriter chose to approach her craft from different perspectives before she even began composing. I stopped thinking in terms of traditional songwriting, Andersson explains. I worked on shapes, forms, and textures, scents and colors. Elements which are more earthy and organic inspired me. She would walk along the Mississippi River, or relax in her garden. As ideas emerged, she caught them in her butterfly net or rather, on her laptop and let them converge, then blossom.Produced by Swedish songwriter and recording artist Tobias Frberg (who also helmed The Last Tycoon for Peter Morn, of Peter Bjorn and John fame), and featuring lyrical contributions from poet Jessica Faust, Hummingbird, Go! evokes a distinctly unique universe via its inventive songs. From the funky backbeat, pizzicato plucking, and vocal leaps of Birds Fly Away, to the smoldering Locusts Are Gossiping, with its interwoven vocals as haunting as any Bulgarian choir and percussive clicking reminiscent of chattering insects, each cut vibrates with polychromatic detail.