Kaki King December 12, 2006

Kaki King has never been one for convention. Her third album, ...Until We Felt Red (available August 8th), is certainly no exception. Over the last few years, she has enjoyed well-earned status as the zeit-girl of instrumental acoustic guitar; a gifted young ingénue closing rank on the canonized heroes of the genre. Now, with ...Until We Felt Red, she bests herself and defies expectation again. Like the yarn that graces the album's cover, she's spun her material out: the haunting melodies are sadder, the lush orchestrations are fuller, and the sharper edges can cut. Much of this can be attributed to the new sonic palate Kaki brings to the platter: distorted pedal steel, pounding drums, ethereal trumpet, dots, loops, bleeps and other indefinable percussion sounds, and her own voice, disarmingly winsome and sweet for a woman with as much attitude as King. Kaki made a great call in seeking out producer John McEntire (Tortoise, Stereolab, Sea & Cake), who engineered and produced the album at his Soma Studios in Chicago.