Katie Kuffel already had me at “Seattle-based”. If you know anything about me, the cloudy city sound is something I relish in, and Kuffel definitely nails that with her track “Jelly Donut”. We can talk all day about her haunting voice (and believe me, I will), but first things first–the piano on the beat deserves its own spotlight. Not quite grand and not quite petite, every strike of the ivory on this song stays for just the right amount of time. While it may, at first, be confused for just something Kuffel can sing over, the piano takes on a mind of its own later on in the song. I mean, once you get to the crescendo of it all–somewhere around 2:50–this thing takes off. The rhythm jumps, the beat sings along with her, the drum starts putting on new lipstick while opening the door for an electric bass, and all the while, her piano cries a new song right along with it. I always find that when you have a song that evolves over time, the best artists take a little bit of what was done earlier and carry it throughout. We’re riding that piano as it brings us through this melody and right at the end, right after she brings in a saxophone from stage left, we’re right back to where we were, listening to that familiar symphony. It’s great, seriously.
If you feel like the piano’s getting too much of the spotlight, rest assured, that’s only because I’m infatuated with it. As said before, whoever’s behind drum’s knows what they’re doing. Each hit, each clap feels perfectly placed. A saxophone shows up and sings for a bit. It’s hard to describe how the beat marries so well with her voice–the two of them resonate together in this beautiful harmony. Listening to it feels like, I don’t know, walking through some Venice street lit by the crescent moon while the blinking neon shop lights reflect over the water. Or something.
Kuffel is known for her poetic and thought-provoking styles, especially through her lyrics. “Jelly Donut” explores the metaphor of a record skipping at first, before evolving styles and sort of comparing herself to the record.
“Do you even know my name?
I can say–I can say, oh you know I can say, I can say a lot of-pretty, pretty words.”
To me, the song reads like an anthem of strength. Kuffel talks about moving on from someone who has “done her wrong”. She goes on to say that she isn’t thinking about them anymore. She’s thinking about herself, an important theme in Kuffel’s exploration of both feminism and advocating against sexism and violence. She wonders aloud in her striking, poetic
and symphonic voice, “How much more of my life will you take?” And when that beat shifts, you know she’s shifting her voice with it. Gone are the long breaths, the airy exchanges–and in are the short pauses, the strides, the pivots that she employs to great effect as she talks about focusing on herself. About recovery. About getting better. You want to talk about why it’s called Jelly Donut? Honestly, I’m not sure. But some secrets aren’t for everyone.
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