Lydia Persaud
Moody31
Next Door Records
Buy via Bandcamp | Listen Below
For the last ten years or so, Toronto based singer-songwriter Lydia Persaud has run the gamut of musical styles. She has been part of soul combo The Soul Motivators, the folk group The O’Pears, rock cover band Dwayne Gretzky and released her own jazz/soul/folk debut in 2019 entitled Let Me Show You. This time around, her new release Moody31 finds her inhabiting a blissful space made up of acoustic guitar, Fender Rhodes keys and her delightful voice weaving a soulful spell over its brief but beautiful 22-minute running time.
The running time is not the only thing that is reassuringly “classic”—there is a warmth that envelops things even when the lyrical content might be preoccupied by heartbreak or disappointment. It’s a warmth that comes courtesy of an approach that is informed by the kind of soul music that the early ‘70s produced—sounds that are simple and uncluttered, but hugely effective like those created by Roberta Flack.
Irrespective of whether this is an EP or album, the collection of songs succeeds not just because of the lovely music but because of Persaud’s winningly candid lyrics and impressively adaptable vocals. On the first song “Good for Us,” she sings, “Without space it’s just co-dependency / You’ve been on my mind religiously / I’m forgetting who I used to be,” accompanied by drums, acoustic guitar, bass and some twinkling keys to great effect. To be clear, there is nothing revolutionary here, but this song (like the whole thing) is carried out with such easy, natural charm that it immediately hits a sweet spot. The same combination takes hold on “I Got You” and continues to succeed thanks to its intimate arrangement.
Things get even sparser on the following two tracks. “Think of Me” is a wonderfully melancholy piece with just drums, guitar and piano creating a forlorn but delicately beautiful song and “Moody31” is a brief instrumental that still manages to bewitch over its minute or so run time. The remainder of the album is all in a similar vein—it is beguilingly brief and a lesson in the old adage that “less is more.”
Given the brevity and strength of the material, it is hardly surprising that you are left wanting more. But Moody31 brings Persaud’s talents sharply into view and makes her one to look and listen out for intently.
Notable Tracks: “Good for Us” | “Think of Me” | “Let Me Be There for You”
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