Search - Angela Correa :: Red Room Songs

Red Room Songs, the singer/songwriter's self-produced, self-released debut, is full of blood, ache, heartbreak and a knowing thoughtfulness that is reflected in every note of the singer's fluttering drawl. The Cd spent weeks on KSDT radios top ten albums list, and still makes regular rotation... Correa sings with an accent not always present in her speech. "It's not a conscious thing, but I think it's a little fun to have a twang when you sing." That is, she flirts with American folk traditionalism not because it's a trendy aesthetic, but because she genuinely likes it. "When I think of country I think of Lucinda Williams and Johnny Cash, she say. "I don't think of... all that," making a keep-that-away-from-me gesture that is probably supposed to imply the Dixie Chicks or Garth Brooks. Correa's music is miles away from pop-country, but to call her "indie" or "alt-country" would be insufficient. She praises Rambling Jack Elliot, and in the same breath says, "ideally, I'd like to write songs that don't follow form- like early Liz Phair." Her songs are intelligent, and often her lyrics address complex themes in simple language. For example, in "Consent/Coercion" she sings, "And I always seem to feel torn between consent and coercion but being near you it felt more like conversion." She explains, "I was sitting in a classroom listening to this political science argument about the hegemonic influence of the United States in Latin America. It's about that kind of dominating relationship with somebody." ...Correa is at once tradional and contemporary, visceral and cerebral. Her words are about sex and murder, and they are sung by a person who has hashed through these topics on an analytical level. - Lawrence Marcus, June 2003