Music Review: SONICA (Outside In Music)
Sonica is the debut album by a true power trio, vocalist/keyboardist Nicole Zuraitis, instrumentalist/engineer/producer Thana Alexa, vocalist/keyboardist and bassist Julia Adamy. On their own, each member of the trio has credits and associations that are non pareil, but their debut offering demonstrates a unified force to be reckoned with, everyone makes strong contributions and the recording features guest appearances from Adamy’s husband Ross Pederson on drums, Zuraitis’ husband Dan Pugach, and Alexa’s husband, 4 time Grammy winner Antonio Sanchez . The album started out as a trio where the Alexa, Zuraitis and Adamy had logged a few gigs prior to the pandemic, and the end result was deciding they had to document their unique chemistry on an album,superbly recorded, produced and mixed by Alexa at the home studio she shares with Sanchez, Meridian Studios, in Queens.
The album covers a huge range of territories, moods and styles over 7 tracks totaling 31 minutes, Alexa has 3 tracks as a lead vocalist, Zuraitis two, and they both sing lead on two other cuts. “Doyenne” sets the pace of the album with vocal textures from Alexa that come from the earth, almost a continuation of the primal Croatian flavors of the title track of her 2019 Grammy nominated album ONA. A different version appears on Sanchez’ Shift: Bad Hombre Volume II (now amassing 400k plays on Spotify), with additional instrumentation added by the drummer/composer. Here, Alexa utilizes vocal percussion and beatboxing with command and presence showing off influences (to this listener) as wide as Urzsula Dudziak, Flora Purim, and Bjork in delivering a deep powerful message. “Doyenne” signifies a French term for a woman at the top of her field, and the snippets from Sojourner Truth’s groundbreaking speech from 1851 Ain’t I A Woman, Gloria Steinem and Malala Yousefzai are inspiring and a human message worthy of much reflection for everyone on all sides, whether liberal, conservative, far left or far right. “Where Ya Gonna Go” features the skipping high hat Dilla feel of Pederson, and combining vocal harmonies and voicing reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters during the 1940’s. The rollicking number, lead by Alexa’s buoyant vocals are a great snapshot of the past meeting the present. Adamy’s swampy deep, in the cut bass funk is a highlight on this track.
Zuraitis contributes an incredibly moody, moving cover of Bon Iyer’s “Michicant” the story of love lost, gains a new perspective here. Her arrangement and lead vocal on a cover of Love’s In Need of Love Today” from Stevie Wonder’s iconic Songs In The Key of Life brings her soulful alto to the surface. Her arrangement came about as her reaction to the 2016 Presidential Election. Combined with Alexa’s support in the spacious, rich, vocal harmonies as creamy and delectable as the richest ice cream makes the track one the listener will want to listen to again and again. Zuraitis’ original “Come A Long Way” surveys a theme prevalent in her own work, mental health and wellness with the composition being told from the perspective of a young woman struggling with herself over the course of the pandemic. Dan Pugach takes the drum chair here and the interplay with Adamy’s bass takes on an airy character.
Alexa again returns to the plate for “Change It”, a lament for the unusual time in society that denies the right of humans to be individualistic, the lack of government and policy to consider the rights of everyone. The track poses a hard question of how a society can change things. One of the most impassioned statements on the record, it is fueled by Antonio Sanchez’ orchestral attention to detail and form, and the drummer takes a muscular solo on one of his favorite musical devices, an ostinato. The album offers a somber closer with the Irish standard, “Danny Boy” which in the wrong hands can become cloying and cheesy, but here it comes off as a gorgeous meditation with a drone behind it and some wondrous vocal harmonies. Adamy wrote the incredible arrangement here, which she was inspired to include because she heard it sung by her grandfather as she grew up.
SONICA also sounds amazing on a good hi fi system. Alexa’s production favors an engaging mid range that brings the focus where it needs to be on the vocals. There are some incredible atmospherics in the sound stage from sounds that are buried into the rear of the sound stage, wide and full of detail. Thankfully there is no hyper shimmering top end in the treble, and everything has a natural tonal balance even with the detailed production touches. SONICA is a great band, and album, their potential can only spring forward from here, and women everywhere have role models to look up to. For those who have issues with music that has a political lean, or perhaps those unfortunate few who have an aversion to female empowerment this album is not for you. For everyone else with an open mind, the album offers many pleasures and is a strong statement from a group that surely is only scratching the surface. See a video of the title track below with some beautiful choreography.
