Disturbing The Air

If Azita was looking for an album title capable of capturing her songs\' physical sensations, she got it more than half right. There\'s a stillness here that\'s both calming and unnerving, a simplicity and starkness enveloping her formidable voice and a lone grand piano that almost suggests it’s wrong to ruffle the airwaves. Since her loud and brash days with Scissor Girls and Bride of No No, Azita has morphed into a singer pushing the boundaries of jazz-rock. On this outing, she goes for a mood more inspired by torch songs. With a color palette that\'s darker than on her previous work (*How Will You*), her thoughtful lyrics here concern personal imbalance and being alone. “These precious hearts/must find their way in the dark,” she coos on the almost-hopeful “Keep Hymn,” and she’s not simply talking about love. The other physical sensation imparted here is one of resounding emptiness: a cavernous black space that\'s waiting to be filled, to be closed, to be sated. The title *Disturbing the Air* is really the most apt representative concept, and we wholly approve of Azita disrupting the peace.

Everybody's got something to hide except for AZITA and her grand piano! Actually, for every moment of forbidden knowledge sung here, there's another moment behind it still in the shadows. Sorch tongs, you dig? A pensive, black-eyed beauty of hope and heartburn. Download includes PDF of album artwork.

Since 2003’s Enantiodromia, Azita has challenged her listeners' expectations, a tradition she continues with Disturbing the Air.

Azita Youssefi has been a key figure in the Chicago underground scene since she formed the Scissor Girls in 1991, and she’s rightly made a name for...