David Olney passed away in January 2020, but what finer legacy could he have left than this mystical and epic compendium of collaboration with Anana Kaye. In a titanic meld of highbrow Americana and Eastern European mystique, WHISPERS AND SIGHS ebbs and flows across a landscape punctuated by sensitive ballads and jagged pieces of quirky rock. The eleven songs when you deduct the meagre thirty seconds of prelude and interlude listed to make it thirteen rotate around the two protagonists who dig deep within their own distinctive styles to blend a record both demanding and rewarding in listener reception.
The core team enlisted to bring this project to fruition concentrated on the trio of Olney, Kaye and her partner Irakli Gabriel. As well as providing vocals, acoustic guitar, assorted keys and electric guitar, they all took equal status in the writing credits. To bolster the team John Hadley chipped in with the co-writing on half a dozen tracks. Also an assortment of additional musicians added to the mix most distinctly with the string arrangements providing an orchestral feel in places.
David Olney has been classed as a songwriter's songwriter emphasising that his acclaim has been more within than outside in the wider world. Listening to parts of this album equate to the experience of diving head first into one of Tom Russell's extensive masterpieces. There are even moments drawing comparisons to Russell's own collaboration with Gretchen Peters. The insider quote to promote this album came from Mary Gauthier, which says a lot about Olney's standing in the Nashville and general Americana/folk songwriting community.
While sadly Olney's work is now confined to the past, there is a ravishing bout of excitement in the potential of Georgia-exiled American based Anana Kaye (and that is the Eastern European version not the Deep South). Her voice echoes with a quirky elegance, best exemplified on the gorgeous ballad 'Tennessee Moon'. This track hit the high spot on first listen and remains a key component. It is the ballads where Kaye's talent mostly blossoms with 'My Last Dream of You', 'Why Can't We Get This Right' and 'Whisper and Sighs' leading the way. The latter does explode with haunting pretence in the final throes after being driven in the early stages by piano and cello.
To give the album a deeper and more eclectic gloss, 'Lie to Me Angel' ignites proceedings early on with Olney taking lead on this rockier effort. His vocal presence does fluctuate across the album, conventionally in the cello/piano led opening song 'My Favourite Goodbye' and the standard ballad 'Behind Your Smile'. However the contribution does get a little weirder when joining in on the Kaye lead rock-infused number 'Last Days of Rome' straight after the re-energising interlude, the left field 'The World We Used to Know' and the wholly collaborative six-minute closer 'The Great Manzini (Disappearing Act)'. The remaining track from the eleven evolving songs is 'Thank You Note' which is as demonstrative as what you get from Kaye in terms of reach and appeal.
Despite seeing David Olney play live in a Nashville venue in 2016 where there was more interest in serving diners than absorbing the live entertainment, his music largely remains undiscovered in my book. In a fit of going back to front, starting with WHISPER AND SIGHS may be an odd progression (or regression), but there are likely riches to uncover. In contrast, Anana Kaye is at the other end of the scale career-wise and the prestige of working so effectively on a project like this can push her own brand of sumptuous Americana further forward.
