Cut Your Teeth (Kyla La Grange)

EN “Cut Your Teeth”, was released on June 2, 2014 and is the second studio album by Kyla La Grange. The album is sort of a mix between the indie and electronic style, being most of the production of the album overseen by the singer and producer James Edward Jacob, and James’s experience and credibility with all programming matters provided Kyla with the platform to carry out her new musical vision in a proficient way.

The eponymous track from the album was her first single and flows effortlessly between synths and a sinister and dark bass, accompanied by beautiful harmonies that merge with the singer's delicate vocals. The atmosphere of the track becomes a kind of fairy tale, and what helps to this effect is the comforting murmurs of the singer, who laments the fact that her love never knows her name, even mentioning that is “bleeding words onto a page for you”, making the listener understand the singer's feelings. The second single, “The Knife”, despite the melancholic lyrics, brings a melody with a subtle and peculiar touch that makes us travel to the Caribbean, serving as some type of spice for a most sophisticated electronic album. This may sound like a combination that shouldn't work, but somehow, she manages to reverse it. In addition, the song has some of my favorite lyrics from the album, with bold images in each line, such as:

“One night you got into my head With a cold bright fear that struck me dead And your body lay heavy in our bed With those bloodstained tears on your chest”

Although some songs seem out of place compared to others, there are promising tracks that define an electronic shift that works perfectly alongside the singer's delicate and emotive performances. And, for me, the track that stands out the most is “Lyssa”, which only exists on the digital version of the album. It is the ballad that ultimately gives power to the album and that closes it in a monumental way, due to its improved electronics and the fantastic vocals of the singer, probably the best of the project.

Mistakenly described as "the most stellar" by the press releases that followed it, "Cut Your Teeth" prefers not to show all its cards at once, at least for the first time that we hear it. It is a project that requires careful monitoring over time to appreciate the true extent of its splendor. After all, true love takes time until they are finally overwhelmed, and that's what happens with this album, which requires it’s time to be properly appreciated.

⭐⭐⭐⭐