Album Review: Among the Grey by Cheyenne Mize

On her third release, singer and songwriter Cheyenne Mize proves an increasingly mercurial talent. Among the Grey was recorded by Kevin Ratterman in a Louisville church. Mize and her band used pretty much everything the space and its grounds had to offer: the basement, sacristy, gym, etc. to make use of its various acoustic and atmospheric possibilities.

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Timing can be treacherous. Daft Punk decided to trade samples and programming for live musicians, revisiting vintage funk styles in the studio, and released its album “Random Access Memories” just weeks before Pretty Lights revealed a similar metamorphosis on its new album, “A Color Map of the Sun” (Pretty Lights Music). Derek Vincent Smith, the D.J.-producer from Denver who records as Pretty Lights, has worked his way up the electronic dance music circuit with tracks steeped in the midtempo stomp and distorted undertow of hip-hop; he releases all of his music for free download from his Web site, though for “A Color Map of the Sun,” he’s also selling CDs and LPs.

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Over the course of her three albums and an initial 10” EP, Cheyenne Mize has come to define herself in various ways – an introspective chanteuse, a pop pundit and a meditative siren that mixes her musical references with a certain apparent ease. With #Among the Grey#, Mize attempts to offer some clarity by identifying some of its songs in decidedly distinctive ways, whether it’s the churning underbelly of the tense and tentative “Through the Window Pane,” the cosmic cascade of “Raymaker,” or the ominous vibe of “Give It All. ” Ultimately though, Among the Grey is still mired in… well… several shades of gray, so that when certain songs dissipate as a casual drift, it becomes all the more difficult to glean a more emphatic impression.

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