Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Nadene Pita – Turning Arrows Into Flowers (Self Released/Planet)

Posted: 14 Sep 2009 01:58 PM PDT

Based in Bondi, Sydney, Nadene Pita has assembled a veritable who’s who of appropriate collaborators for her debut album, Turning Arrows Into Flowers. Between the recordings and her live sets some of Australia’s best in the fields of jazz (Chris Abrahams, Hamish Stuart), electro-acoustic (Abel Cross) and electronic improv (Claire Herbert), not to mention eclectic producer Tony Dupe, have lent their collective expertise. The album takes in all these points, harnessing them into a laid back, at times abstract, and ever engaging whole.

The opening few tracks, to my ears, are possibly the weakest, though with the quality of later tracks, this still allows them to be good. ‘Empyrean’ and ‘Missing’ are relatively straight acoustic/jazz pop, with the odd classical flourish, some subtle electronic molecular processing hinting at the fulness of the album’s scope. ‘Red Shoes’ is the most overtly jazz, both musically and lyrically as Pita ironically states ‘Why don’t you straighten your hair?/Why don’t you fit in?/Why don’t you straighten your clothes and your attitude?/’Cause it’s what you’re supposed to do” with all the throaty growl of a diva. ‘Newborn’ is mostly layers of Pita’s own voice and gives an idea of the range of sounds she can utilise, from regular singing to operatic choir to gutteral groans, and brief sample snatches of baby laughter.

‘Fire’ heads into abstract jazz territory and is where the album really gets interesting. Pita’s wailing, wordless vocals (both forwards and played backwards) are interspersed with drum shuffles, sax blurts and cello groans. Gentle but erratic it sets up the final half of the album which steers away from the straightforward to more improvised, psychedelic terrain. ‘Revolution’ is joyous polyrhythm under Polynesian chants and ‘Parachute Man’ finishes the album with a 7 minute summary of electro-acoustic improv, glitchy processing and vocal swoon.

Turning Arrows Into Flowers has been growing on me quietly. I can understand the jazz pigeonhole that seems to have attached itself to the album, as there are definite roots there, but that sells it far too short. Whilst laid back, this is much more than cocktail or dinner music and, when Pita and her assorted musicians really let fly, can head off into the stratosphere.

Adrian Elmer