Kittens Slay Dragons - Big Big Heart (2017)

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Written by Aaron Ellis, posted by blog admin

Sarah Donner’s electronica project, Kittens Slay Dragons, is definitely s departure from the folk offerings she has customarily served up for listeners. The ten song collection covers a remarkable amount of stylistic ground despite confining itself to a musical style not often associated with moments of expansive beauty. The electronic side of Big Big Heart radiates genuine warmth and musicality that experienced listeners, perhaps, may not expect when they dive into Big Big Heart for the first time. Much of the album’s success can be rightly subscribed to the power of Donner’s voice to overcome any musical backing. Her voice is the guiding force behind this release, much more than any electronic backing, and brings listeners into each song with much in the way of preamble. Big Big Heart is equal parts enlightening and entertaining.

“Gatekeeper” is an outstanding beginning to the project. There’s a wellspring of emotion coming from Donner’s voice that’s impossible to ignore and it’s juxtaposed against an electronic backing track that’s bright, warm, and lively. It’s an excellent introduction to the style of the album and its consistent strengths. The shimmering synthesizer opening to “Smile Pretty” helps sets the stage for one of Big Big Heart’s best numbers. The slowly developing vocal melody plays quite well off against the kinetic electronic backing and she once again invests a style not typically known for its emotive depths with a voice that aches, yearns, and hits its mark each time out. The throbbing synthesizer cloud opening “Love Is Surgery” is soon joined by a steady pulse and lightly colored synthesizer fills lay over top. The vocal melody is relatively simple, but draws you in immediately; it’s the chorus, however, that finds Donner’s vocal reaching the song’s peak, but it’s handled with artful restraint. The title song is much more remarkable in every respect. Donner’s dream-like vocal melody has a graceful lilt lacking from even the finest tracks elsewhere on this album and when she unleashes the full force of emotional power, the song benefits even more. There’s some discreet backing vocals incorporated into this song that further sweeten the performance.

“Queer and Square” has a fat bass thud and swirling synth lines as a setting for one of Donner’s most emphatic vocals. She conjures a genuine bite for this number that she bears down on even more with the song’s chorus. The late album track “Symbols in the Sky” has a stronger groove than anything so far on Big Big Heart, but she never neglects making melody an important facet of the song’s success. “Eggs” is another surprising cut. Electric piano dispels the synthesizer spell hanging over much of the album and represents one of the best pieces of writing on this recording. Her vocals bring the same mix of technical excellence and impassioned self-expression that define many of the other songs, but it’s even greater here and she’ll leave many feeling rather breathless by her virtuoso talents. Kittens Slay Dragons’ Big Big Heart is one of the best electronica based releases in recent memory and has the sort of vulnerability coupled with immense artistry we’re lucky to find on any modern album.