Chris Pureka has always used intense emotions and introspection as the basis for her brilliant, intensely personal music.
If you go
Chris Pureka CD Release Party with Xylos
Where: Iota Club and Cafe, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington
When: 9 p.m. Thursday
Info: $12; 703-522-8340; iotaclubandcafe.com
On her just-released third album “How I Learned To See in the Dark,” Pureka’s sound moves to such an advanced level she likely soon will move out of the folk format and into a more rightful place as an indie singer/songwriter with blues, folk and country influences. “My last record came out 2006 and I was on the road all the time. Basically, I was really interested in working with a good friend of mine [Merrill Garbus],” Pureka said. “She is only available at certain times and I had only written a few songs so I had to come back. That is why the process took so long.”
But well worth the wait as evidenced by the often brooding, always heartfelt 12 songs on the album that fully use Pureka’s husky, emotive voice as the song’s centerpieces. Pureka is no novice player, though, as amply shown by her acoustic playing and finger picking on such songs as “Landlocked.” Still it’s her voice — something akin to Stevie Nick mixed with Bonnie Raitt — that packs the sonic wallop.
“This was a really difficult record to make because it was more stripped down [than my previous work],” she said. “Still we added more layers [of instrumentation], more permutations so that took time too).
Many of the songs revolve around Pureka’s take on longing, loss and hope. Though her voice almost swims in sorrow at many junctures, the listener is ultimately left with overall feelings of hope and triumph.
“I have gone through hell and back with it,” she said. “I’ve really gone on quite the roller coaster ride. The last record was mostly Americana, sort of like Ryan Adams, and this new record is definitely not that. It is much more folk arrangement but we did it a lot more vocally. I take a lot of risks and push myself in new directions vocally.”
Adding to the more genuine, natural feel of the sound were the rusty cans and actual foot stomps Garbus introduced in some songs.
If Pureka’s style left some grasping for comparisons before, it will definitely befuddle others now. For her part, Pureka takes the name dropping in stride, focusing on the trajectory of whom she would most like to emulate in her overall career.
“I think of Josh Ritter,” Pureka said. “He came out of the folk scene but he is not really known as a folk writer. He is a singer/songwriter and thought of as very creative.”
Much like Pureka herself.
