People Are Strange
The Strange Familiar’s second full-length studio album entitled Chasing Shadows perfectly illustrates the meaning behind the band’s name sake. Pulling from a variety of musical styles, the Strange Familiar pulled together a solid album. Strong female vocals from Kira Leyden along with creative song writing made Chasing Shadows an album to look out for.
The Strange Familiar benefits from a lead singer with excellent range and tone along with a polished sound, which is no doubt a result of her lifetime of music training. Her husband, Jeff Andrea, is the lead guitarist and he has solid abilities, which is evident. Certainly, the song writing benefits from the bond of their marriage.
The album is full of songs about love and emotions, but also has some tracks that are meant to be clever and perhaps even funny. The track “Being Me” is one such clever song, using popular song lyrics in sarcasm, which is always interesting when coupled with a strong female voice. Casting Shadows has some interesting drumbeats and bass playing, which makes the band have that “Strange” sound. Also, they use some interesting back-up vocals with heavy use of additional effects, however, the sound never gets obnoxious or bothersome.
Overall, this album is worth checking out when it dropos on March 27th. The follow-up to their first album, This Is Gravity, will draw this young band more attention. It also doesn’t hurt when you wrote the song for a popular ABC Family program. Look for The Strange Familiar to get more acclaim with their new album, Chasing Shadows.
By Butch Cassidy