Azure Ray - Hold On Love (2003)

When it came time to follow up their tiny masterpiece, 2002's November,
Azure Ray's Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor left behind the Southern comfort
of Athens, GA, for Omaha. Both of Azure Ray's significant others already
resided in the quaint Nebraska town, so the two opted to take a chance
there as well. Such a change worked in their favor on Hold on Love, for the
two have captured a cohesiveness that was lacking on previous Azure Ray
albums. Fink and Taylor's gothic dreamscape of wonder and melancholy is
fleshed out with their breathy warm vocals as the main focus. Lite strings,
percussion, and assorted acoustic guitars and woodwinds flow nicely
throughout while misted pianos accent Hold on Love's overall prettiness.
The sentiment of "These White Lights Will Bend to Make Blue" explores Azure
Ray's desire to sift through the old to make sense of what's new, which is
also reflective of the group's maturation as artists. "The Drinks We Drank
Last Night" and "Sea of Doubts" may echo darker thoughts, but Hold on Love
pines for tight fit in love and all of its loveliness, good and bad. One
thing that remained the same was having longtime producer Eric Bachmann on
board. Bachmann fully realizes Azure Ray's cathartic song style, and for
Hold on Love he and Azure Ray reworked the group's usual ethereality for
their brightest material yet.