As the story goes, the Toronto singer-songwriter Sarah van den Berg traded a a sequined, blue bra and two tall cans for a toy guitar that was usually always out of tune on a some sort of trading website called Bunz Trading Zone. Then she learned a few chords and started writing songs, ending up with over 30 different conceptualized versions of songs.
The ones that made the cut are the three that ended up on her solo debut The Moon EP. Though all the songs were written by van den Berg, she had a cast and crew behind her to help her out, playing guitar, keyboards, bass, percussion etc. and also a producer friend Julia Wittmann who mixed and mastered the album. The three songs on The Moon EP are simple enough affairs that follow a vein of fun and poppy and also folksy sort of pop ballads. The first thing that caught my attention about this record was how prodigious van den Berg’s vocals are and how well they pair with the melodies she and her backing band write. She and her band never stretch to try something out of the ordinary. They stay close to the shore as far as experimentation goes, which I really liked, as so many younger artists think they need to make rather challenging affairs right off the bat in order for people to take them seriously. The opening song “Security” is an alt country pop ditty that works in that storytelling way of self-narration. Next she gives us the shimmering and elegant yet simple and sweet “Permission.” On the final track “The Moon” she and her band create a memorable melody of pop and fantasy. It is again simple but heartfelt, the way the best kind of songwriting always is. Both the precision of instrumentation and the beautiful brevity of van den Berg’s songwriting really made me want to hear more songs from her, and I think this short but sweet record will be just as enticing to a wider audience. I hope there is a longer album in the near future.
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May 2024
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