Dragonfly by Ava McCoy
'Dragonfly' by Ava McCoy
Despite being recorded in at least three different and exciting locations—Portland (Oregon), Brooklyn, and Nashville—Ava McCoy’s second full-length, Dragonfly isn’t a grand narrative spanning time zones and years. Nor is it a series of travelogues set to music.
It is, however, a startlingly assured progression toward maturity from a 24-year-old singer and songwriter. Although she works with three different co-producers across a brisk eight tracks, she is audibly the commanding and connecting presence throughout.
The greatest part of that command resides within her voice, which projects a clarity reminiscent of what Suzanne Vega and Patty Griffin put across when they were closer to McCoy’s current age. Over the lens of that clarity, she adds filters that refract rock and pop rays of light toward particularly colorful angles.
“Out of Tomorrows,” one of five tracks she co-produces with Acrophase labelmate and fellow twentysomething Josef “Jo” Kuhn, is off-center in the sequencing but a centerpiece for her craft: as a sparkling acoustic guitar seems to attract supple drums, backdrop bass, and horizon-seeking electric guitar, McCoy sings with just enough ache about a love that might be dying of natural causes.
That modulation, a sense of how much is just enough, gives her room for equally modulated exploration: “The Man” touches upon the feminine alt-rock snarl that has also inspired Olivia Rodrigo; “Standing Again” leans in the indie-folk direction of Madi Diaz; and the title track creates a mellow tapestry that hints at, yes, Carole King.
Dragonfly closes with “Young Girl,” which showcases not only a thoughtfully husky lower register but also an Americana talent somewhere between Lainey Wilson and Sheryl Crow. With this kind of creative confidence, Ava McCoy should be the opening act for a better-known singer-songwriter who isn’t afraid of a little competition. Or a lot.
Stream or download Dragonfly here.
|
|
