'In Time' by Alyssa Giammaria
Alyssa Giammaria is a grower. The Canadian jazz singer/composer displays growth as a songwriter from the 2022 Momets EP to her debut full album, In Time; her voice can also grow more comforting the more one hears it.
At first listen, her instrument may resemble that of a refugee from a ‘90s collegiate alt rock band in its low-key, high-pitch swoon. Touchpoints of spacy trip-hop and spartan funk implemented by her accompanying quartet intermittently evoke the vapors of prime college radio rotation. But soon enough, Giammaria sounds jazzier, which she really has all along.
Within the collection’s seven songs, her innocent tone complements lyrics tracing the emotional geography of wounding and healing from same in a real-time manner that sounds as if she’s sorting what can be salvaged from a relationship in real time. Unlike her previous release, Giammaria eschews brass in her backing ensemble, instead relying only on piano and guitar to front drums and bass. There are brief stretches where the proceedings could be a mite righter or a little less cluttered, but if working through relational damage, so might the artistry influenced by that be a bit messy, too? Regardless, Giammaria's catharsis makes for a quite good Time.
