Sounds Like: A shared language. 

My  comfort album of 2022. While I’ve been a fan of the duo that is Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini for a while now, “Auburn Whisper”  snuck up on me. Through the trials and tribulations of  2022, I found myself reaching for this record more, often in moments of solitude — easing into my workday, making dinner, figure drawing.  It’s the kind of record that can float above you or you can dive into and it works either way.

The album oscillates between Portuguese and English, with guitar and trombone serving as the primary instrumentation.  The combo works incredibly well, and I really appreciate the dimensions the layers of trombone add under the vocals. Listening to “Auburn Whisper” you realize what an underutilized instrument it is.

“Auburn Whisper” has a natural organic flow, and yet each of the songs create their own unique world, rich with emotion and atmosphere. From the entrancing opener  “Afoxé pra Oxumto”  to the delicate “Cazadero,”  each song is a destination unto itself.   Credit this to how well Cressman & Faquini play off each other. Both have the vocal chops to convey rich emotion while creating space for each other. They layer in and around each other, but never is one above the other. Listen how the two voices fold into each on the relaxed “Canaã.”  Later in the album they play a game of cat-and-mouse during “Ralando Coco," a frisky number that hosts one of the best trombone solos of the album.

“Auburn Whisper” is an album of pure partnership that will continue to unfold new dimensions with each spin. Lean in and listen.

Favorite Track: Currently the impassioned “Benção de Iansã” is my favorite, with its forcefulness that anchors the whole record.