Like Joni Mitchell and Sarah McLachlan, Abra Moore has a special way of evoking a tranquil, sensuous mood, quietly seducing her listeners with her music’s haunting lilt and swoon. Indeed, Moore’s languid motifs turn her beautiful and beguiling new album On The Way into the aural equivalent of twilight sleep, a wistful watercolor dream in which the boundary between waking and slumber is inevitably blurred. The first song, “Into The Sunset,” sets the tone, a hushed, shimmering narrative meshing a guarded view with its gentle tapestry of muted trumpets, sumptuous keyboards and dense acoustic textures. As the album progresses, that blithe suggestion becomes more diffused, her breathy, half-whispered vocals fading into the ether with languid, come-hither designs. Elusive and yet evocative, songs such as “On The Way,” “Take Care Of Me” and “No Turning Back” convey a heightened sense of expectation with their quiet beguiling melodies and airy, ethereal arrangements. Even so, at times Moore’s grasp seems tenuous, but the soothing, suggestive tones are never less than affecting. So even though it’s not always entirely clear where On The Way is headed, in this circumstance, the journey is ample reward in itself.
--Lee Zimmerman
