IMAGINARY CITIES – TEMPORARY RESIDENT

From the get-go it’s clear that this debut album from Canadian song writing duo Rusty Matyas and Marti Sarbit is finely crafted, especially for such a relatively young project (the pair began their first collaboration in late 2010). The opener Say You builds nicely over a slow, soulful Rhodes piano and flows into the ballsy and rumbling Hummingbird. But singer Sarbit’s melodies here are, frustratingly, just shy of something memorable or catchy. Maybe it’s the thinness of her voice that stops her from ringing out over the warm, driving pop rock that would neatly propel a more full-bodied vehicle for her otherwise sound song writing. It’s not until we reach the quieter tunes on Temporary Residents that Sarbit’s voice comes into its own: the plodding piano pop of Calm Before The Storm, the echoing, glittering musings on Purple Heart and the cutesy acoustic blues of Ride This Out all favour her delicate, albeit shrill, singing voice – our own alternative pop songstresses Lisa Mitchell and Lanie Lane come to mind in these instances. Though Imaginary Cities’ much-touted Motown influences can be felt, they can’t be heard; apart from the handsome analogue warmth achieved in production, there is no real connection to that label. But Sarbit and Matyas need not contrive it – given some time to mature, this project could be fantastic.

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