The world-jazz flavored experimental alt-pop of Atlanta’s Twittering Machine shines on the band’s debut, the independently released breakfast by the dunes. Front and center are singer-accordion player Beth Moon’s ethereally withdrawn vocals. Her style and tone immediately call to mind Astrud Gilberto, the Brazilian jazz and Bossa Nova singer who made “The Girl From Ipanema” popular in the mid 1960s. Rotating between two main moods for much of the album—slow, melancholy-yet-classy indie lounge and then more-upbeat Latin jazz—breakfast is a diverse, haunting album full of delicate cello and violin arrangements, strong lyrics and heartfelt songwriting. The presence of great studio players—former Aquarium Rescue Unit drummer Jeff Sipe, percussionist extraordinaire Count M’butu and late Atlanta music scene legend Ricky Keller—add depth to the recording. Twittering Machine is a great unsigned band that likely won’t remain that way for long.
breakfast by the dunes is available at cdbaby.com