Juliette Commagere - The Procession

Your feelings about the music of L.A.'s Juliette Commagere may be, in some small way, tied to your initial thoughts of the oversized plumage atop her head in a recent press shot (see below) and album cover. Dramatic? Pretentious? Artsy? In many respects, Commagere's new October 26 album The Procession (Manimal) has all of those various elements and then some. But if you let your guard down just a bit, chances are you - like us - will get drawn into the dark, moody depths of Commagere's eclectic, plugged-in art/pop. Much like Natasha Khan's superior '09 Bat for Lashes album Two Suns (right down to the colorful headdress), The Procession aims for similar tribal, rhythmic pop and electronica edges, a modern take on the art-rock explorations of Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Bjork and David Bowie. It's also a logical step forward from her promising '08 debut Queens Die Proudly.

Fortunately, Commagere balances the chilly, minor chord sonic seriousness of tracks such as "Eaten From the Inside" and "Hovering in the Wings" with the warmer rhythmic pop touch of the squiggly, percolating "Impact", a song that wouldn't be out of place on a Bird and the Bee album, or the 80's-styled synth anthem "How I Look for You". One of the reasons The Procession works is Commagere's voice, an instrument capable of the most lovely textures and expressive shades as on the warmer, blissed-out ballads "Plantsong" (featuring Jon Hassell) and "Glass". Despite a few excesses -- some tracks drift into the 7 to 8 minute range -- The Procession, at its best, challenges and provokes...and then rewards with a welcome melodic turn or unexpected vocal pleasure.

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Juliette Commagere - "Impact" (from the album The Procession)

Juliette Commagere - "Eats From the Inside" (from the album The Procession)

Photo: Elliott Lee Hazel