ITASCA - Unmoored by the Wind

Kayla Cohen, a.k.a. Itasca, is a folk guitarist and songwriter from New York State. She has released several small press CD-rs and cassettes over the past five years, and began recording as Itasca after a move to Los Angeles in 2012. She records at home, taking inspiration from the fringes of LAs open space and natural land.\r\n\r\nOn Itascas latest full-length,_Ç Unmoored By The Wind, Kayla Cohen achieves new levels of clarity and expansiveness. Where 2012s_Ç Grace Riders on the Road_Ç reveled in homemade intimacy,_Ç Unmoored By The Wind _Ç opens to the world, reaching a timeless, near-baroque yearning; each of these eleven tracks burns with a unique vision. At once soft-spoken and virtuosic, Cohens fingerpicking mesmerizes, laying gauzy groundwork for vocal work David Keenan rightfully cited as _¢‚Ǩ_ìcourtly_¢‚Ǩ¬¶dazzling._¢‚Ǩ¬ù Its a spacious set of songs, one you can wander into, flowing seamlessly between wistful interludes a la Bob Desper and fully-fledged verses of powerful, often beguiling imagery. _¢‚Ǩ_ìTwo male shapes are standing/ Shrouded in white cloth_¢‚Ǩ¬ù sings Cohen on _¢‚Ǩ_ìNatures Gift,_¢‚Ǩ¬ù with a plaintive candidness that echoes Sibylle Baier. _¢‚Ǩ_ìTheyre looking at me/ Sort of smiling/ Seems as if Ive called them here._¢‚Ǩ¬ù Cohens voice has a_Ç windburnt quality reminiscent of Lal Waterson or Collie Ryan, but its tempered with sweetness, and on songs like _¢‚Ǩ_ìColt In Hiding_¢‚Ǩ¬ù she realizes an angelic luster. More than ever before, though, Cohens confident singing is laid bare; vocals ride on top of arrangements, taking their rightful place in the forefront. The effect is arresting. Cohen has achieved new levels of clarity, while staying true to the seductive ghostliness that has come to characterize her sound."- New Images.