Writer: Patricia Oliveira
Suzanna Choffel’s Archer
Is a gift of light
CHOFFEL’S A BOHEMIAN, TAKING THE GOOD
AND THE BAD INDISCRIMINATELY, AND MAKING OF SOMETHING HEAVY AND ENCUMBERING A GIFT OF LIGHTNESS AND HUMANITY
Austin native Suzanna Choffel is
a daughter of soul and jazz, a one
of a kind songstress, dealing darkness and light via her siren’s voice.
Her third studio album “Archer” is an enthralling mélange of genres, moods and
ambiances; poppy urban ballads coexist
with melancholic tunes and the ensemble
functions and more. Choffel is by no means
a newcomer on the music scene; she has
greased the wheels of success for years,
always appearing in shadows on her album
sleeves, she the dimmest area, her music the
most brilliant, the whole worthy of a negative photograph. Suzanna Choffel explores
the tremors and trepidations of loving and
the delights of funky New York promenades
alike, injecting bluesy accents and southern
sonorities here, Wurlitzers and vibraphones
there, and that smoky voice of hers intoning
the grittiest of words.
6 – RUNNING TITLE
Her songs’ titles are stories in themselves:
“Race Car,” “Archer,” “Stumble.” Choffel’s
voice is a honeyed hush, voyaging along the
sceneries she depicts, and she is a fine observer too, in hushed tones she may sing, her
words cut nonetheless right through skin parcels. In ten sumptuous tracks, she expertly
asserts her craftsmanship and demonstrates
the intimist genres that are jazz and soul are
to be fought for not because it’s a risky thing
to do, but because like rap and hip hop’s hustler narrative, these musical currents are the
vehicles for distinctive stories.
The instrumentation on this record is in
that regard telling; saxophones, trumpets,
trombones, pianos and drums merrily fuse
without the least bit of effort to produce the
veritable whirls these songs are. And these
don’t feel overworked or mock, rather they
appear seamless in spite of all their intricacies and convolutions. The words are simple
yet heavy, whispered yet turbulent and the