Brigitte DeMeyer (from the album Seeker, available from BDM Music)
Brigitte DeMeyer searches for answers on her eighth album, Seeker. One thing is certain though, the talented singer/songwriter with the sultry songbird vocals is definitely not searching to find her voice. She’s already got that down pat. Her Sheryl Crow meets Norah Jones voice is perfectly suited for her style of Jazzy Folk Americana. At turns intimate and whispery like a coffeehouse singer, then bold and bombastic like a concert hall diva; DeMeyer conveys dramatic mood and motion with her vocal phrasing.
The title song, “Seeker”, was written in response to a sudden and unexpected relocation from her home in Nashville to San Francisco to deal with a family crisis. Starting off, ‘Oh my mother, oh sweet Jesus, tell me what you know’, the song plays like a musical prayer. A single acoustic guitar and a light, metronome drumbeat help her sing her prayer with occasional dramatic piano chords thrown in to convey heightened emotion. Her voice is intimate and pleading as she confesses, ‘my seeking days have just begun’. Sometimes admitting you don’t have all the answers and learning to trust a higher power is the first step to finding answers. The timbre of Brigitte DeMeyer’s voice perfectly balances that moment of apprehension and hope as we step tentatively into the unknown.
She continues to showcase her intimate and vulnerable side on “Roots and Wings and Bones”, “All the Blue”, “Already In”, and the Gospel-tinged “Louisiana”; the latter of which is a master class on pitch and breath control. Brigitte DeMeyer unleashes her Bluesy, torch singer side in this sultry, slow-burn tribute to the Crescent City. DeMeyer manages to combine her sultry and playful sides in the Piedmont Blues of “Cat Man Do” singing ‘when he get on the strip, he so tragically hip. Nobody know how he do’ she moans the story of a hep cat on the prowl for love. The funky dobro and piano make the song slink and sloop like an alley cat at midnight. “Salt of the Earth” finds DeMeyer channeling a little Dusty Springfield Memphis Soul. “Calamity Gone” adds a funky Jazz backbeat to that Soul sound. “Ain’t No Mister” finds her layering smooth, Norah Jones vocals over Vince Guaraldi piano syncopations. “Wishbone” is a spritely Folk anthem about achieving balance and perspective in life. Singing ‘you don’t know the right till you’ve been wronged. You don’t know alone till you belong’ she reminds us that you can’t appreciate the highs of life until you’ve experienced the lows. Understanding this helps make the lows a little more bearable.
Being a seeker means admitting that you don’t have the answers – but believing that the answers are out there somewhere. Brigitte DeMeyer reminds us to enjoy the little moments in life as we seek a greater understanding of the big issues. Wherever you are on your journey, take the time to enjoy the simple pleasure of these songs of comfort sung with impeccable style.
March 27, 2021 – by Brian Rock
Read the review at The Alternate Root