Leila Broussard is a rising star musician here in Los Angeles. She gets a lot of “air time” at the Hotel Cafe because of her truly unique sound and it’s reflected on her current EP/CD,‘Waiting on the Nine” which has a distinctly different sound than what I have currently been hearing for the last year or so in musicians. Featuring bluesy, jazz-infused arrangements, her voice wraps lusciously around the lyrics and bends them to the music and her will and makes them entirely her own and you find that you are drawn into her world and seeing life through her eyes.
Lelia Broussard
Her first song out of the gate is interesting (Scared to Feel) opens slowly as an invitation to explore and connect and it develops over the course of the song. Each subsequent song shows off a different aspect of Broussard’s performance personality and she’s quite diverse with a soft yet distinct edge and unique phrasing that reflects the era of Ella, Billie and Dinah (Fitzgerald, Holiday, Washington in case you didn’t know). For those looking for a more current reference, think of Corinne Bailey Rae but so much better, deeper, thoughtful with a greater range. Her voice goes from silky smooth to a softened Janice Joplin-esque purr and growl throughout the CD.
Produced by Dave Trumfio, Broussard has great backup from musicians like Jason Borger, Rob Douglas, Derek Brown, Stirling Trent and Keaton Simons (thought there was something familiar about the guitar-work!). This small sampler of music gives you a wide range of “tastes” or flavors of her musical presentation and she’s definitely someone to be watching and listening too.
The most contemporary radio framed song is track 2, “Don’t Let Go”, which is slow opening up but rapidly picks up tempo as she moves towards the end. It’s all about relationships and allowing oneself to be rely on another person as well as being ther too. It’s a perfect song for the radio that would pick up the pop listener.
Every other song on this 6 track EP illustrates a different musical & singing quality that is uniquely Lelia and she’s nailed it on the title track, “Waiting on the Nine”. This serious blues-inflected piece is about where we all are— “waiting on the nine” , waiting to get on with our lives, to get past the pain, to get “somewhere”. Lelia’s unique phrasing style makes this a perfect song that will haunt you because you can hear the echoes of other great singers from decades past in her styling yet it’s very much Broussard’s personality particularly in the bridge section. Just when you think it’s over, it comes back for a softer refrain that’s really different. Great song and you need to have this CD just to have this one .
Orignal From: Lelia Broussard Gets You Craving More "Waiting on the Nine!"
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