When considering a group you’ve never heard of–even if you’ve quite possibly heard its music on TV shows “Grey’s Anatomy” or “The O.C.”–data points usually are helpful.
Psapp, an arty folktronica duo whose latest album is “The Only Thing I Ever Wanted,” is that band. The group could be described as Everything but the Girl meets everything but the kitchen sink.
That’s not entirely accurate, though. There are shades of Everything but the Girl’s Tracey Thorn in singer Galia Durant’s melodious, ice-cool vocals. But her partner, producer and studio engineer Carim Clasmann, is such a fan of sonic experimentation that he found his way to an actual sink. As Durant coos “I want to take your voice and drink it” on the atmospheric album’s opener, “Hi,” Clasmann incorporates the sound of splashing water in the entrancing, cacophonous mix–right alongside toy-keyboard loops, jagged guitar riffs and homemade percussion.
As with almost everything the British duo does, the giddy song, which begins with the creaky sound of an opening door, is a mega-multitracked affair, teeming with found sounds alongside a bit of classic instrumentation. But it’s hardly noise for the sake of making noise. For all of Psapp’s unconventionality and inventiveness, there’s a definite accessibility, not to mention warmth, to the group’s song-craft.
It’s no accident that Psapp was tapped for the theme to ABC’s hit show “Grey’s Anatomy” and has been featured elsewhere on TV, including a Volkswagen campaign.
Psapp appears at HotHouse on Saturday on the same bill as Argentinian singer/actress Juana Molina, who also recently released an album, “Son.” It’s the most musically mature and beguiling of her three albums of ambient acoustic electronica, in which Molina displays a playful songwriting and sound-sculpting ability that’s positively mischievous. She’s consistently surprising as well: Molina samples tweeting birds; multitracks her own voice to create understated, ghostly chorales of Beach Boys-ish harmony; and moves from beat-boxing to meowing on deliciously breezy songs such as “Un Beso Llega” and “Yo No.”
Juana Molina and Psapp
When: Saturday
Where: HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo Drive
