It’s a crowded underground in 2022, to say the least, but with her harmony-powered debut EP Tonight There Might Be Stars, singer/songwriter Karen Turner is making herself quite the standout, to put it mildly. In songs like the urgent “Jacaranda,” a sense of melodic wanderlust permeates even the simplest of verses, bringing us closer to a burning desire only suggested by the lyrics in the song. Turner is at times passive with her delivery but never removed from the words she’s singing; from “Wish I Could Just Stop By” to “If the World Is Ending,” this is an artist wearing her emotions – and her reaction to the statements she makes – on her sleeve, which allows for us to really get a sense of her organic talents for what they are.
The melodies in “Blue Mind” use every bit of the power Turner is able to conjure from behind the microphone, which in turn makes the simple percussive setup feel a little more chilling and rousing to the discriminating folk fan. There’s an alternative singer/songwriter influence to “Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway” that reads more like Elliot Smith than it does Tori Amos, but the reticence in our singer’s voice isn’t translating as the straight angst it would have some twenty-five years ago. She’s complicated, as are the emotions she’s trying to lay out before us in both music and lyrics, and this is a record that spotlights as much rather than living and dying on cosmetic lusters alone.
At no point does Turner’s dynamic lead vocal leave the center of the mix, but this isn’t necessarily by design. There’s enough pull from the instrumental undertow in “If the World Is Ending” for me to believe the song was meant to be more guitar-oriented in its hook than it ever was a singer showcase – this player’s pipes are just that strong. When she gets started with a verse, especially in a track like this one, it’s as if she could trail into the ethers without ever breaking the continuity of a harmony, which is difficult to do even in the most ideal of production circumstances. This is a very raw spectacle, and just the sort of listen that should leave post-hipster folk fans feeling more than a little excited about its creator’s future in the mainstream.
There aren’t many debut extended plays that have the sterling tone Tonight There Might Be Stars has even after repeat listens, and while I had never heard Karen Turner’s work before sitting down with these five songs, I get the feeling that we’re only getting a taste of her abilities inside of this record’s material. She’s not holding back from us in the epic ballad “Wish I Could Just Stop By,” but there’s an underlying intensity that I want her to tap into more the next time she gets into the recording studio, which, for the sake of those who appreciate a good melody as much as I do, will hopefully be a lot sooner than later.
Rachel Townsend