Building the Colossus

Not your every day artist, American singer and songwriter Happy Rhodes released this album in 1994 and it really has to be listened to in order to get her sound. Rhodes weaves a soft tapestry of tunes together that showcase her incredible four octave vocal range. Don’t expect to find any of these tunes remotely near a top forty pop list or on any hit parade even though this is probably her most radio friendly effort. Most of the songs are folksy, funky constructions with an underlying morose layer which either jar your senses or lull them, depending on the mood you are in.

When trying to classify this album I found myself thinking that it really is its own musical genre, owing essentially nothing to any style. It defines its own style and is somewhat, dare I say it, “happier” than many of her previous works. The majority of the songs are slow tempo offerings, but all of them are constructed in such a way as to let you marvel at her soft yet incredibly potent and dichotomous voice. Songs I especially like on this release are Omar, You never told me, Dying and Down, Down. Yes, even with those last two titles, believe it or not, this is a more joyful album than any of Happy’s previous works.

Here is Happy Rhodes performing Down, Down.

The tune starts at 2:08. Before that Happy is bantering with the audience.