At the peak of her buzz in late-1980s Los Angeles, Weslie Brown stepped onto a ship and vanished, leaving it all behind to sail around the world. She had been a headliner on the city’s artsy, experimental scene alongside names like Sandra Bernhard, Lydia Lunch and Katey Sagal, playing underground venues such as the Lhasa Club and The Anti-Club. Thoughts of Love, released on September 18th by Barton Avenue Records, finally presents ten recordings from that era with Her Band of Men, restored with modern audiophile technology. It is the first full-length in a series of never-before-heard archival releases, and it follows her debut EP Theatrical Jazz.
There is so much to love about this album that it is hard to know where to start, but the first song that made my ears perk up was “Will My Survival.” It is incredibly catchy and danceable, and I couldn’t help myself; I had to get up and move to it. It is amazing how, with such simple textures, such a rich song can be created. It all comes down to the composition, with great melodies and incredible groove from the piano and bass. Here the band of men is really working it to support Weslie’s amazing vocals.
“Run Run Run” follows swiftly, and it’s safe to say I did not expect it to be a musical theater number. That is just me being ignorant, since I had no idea her debut EP was titled Theatrical Jazz. I deeply enjoyed it. I thought the pacing was amazing, and it created such a vivid image in my head, which is what musical theater is all about.
What really pushed this album over the top for me, however, was “Ships.” That song is pure magic. It feels otherworldly in a unique way that only Weslie Brown can do, as if a force of nature were singing, with the harmony sustained in the background like fog through its drone sounds. It is simply ethereal and goosebump-inducing.
Brown, a Berklee graduate, later composed multiple full-length stage musicals and wrote songs for the film I Hate Musicals, and her songs have appeared on Dexter and Charmed. The album pairs her originals with hand-picked standards across a tight 30 minutes. Thematically, the songs are about love from multiple angles and perspectives, and sonically it is an absolute delight, with variation from straightforward great jazz tunes to theatrical pieces to danceable songs. It is an easy recommendation to any music lover.