by Steve Kenny (@steve.kenny.1007)
Zoh Amba, who’s birth name is Britni Hamrick, and has taken the new name due to their adoption of Advaita Vedanta, a Hindu philosophical tradition, started their musical journey as an avant-garde tenor sax and flute player. They have been favorably compared to Albert Ayler, in part because of the full-throated tone and folk/gospel influences, and also because of their proficiency in a second wind instrument. Originating from Kingsport, Tennessee, Amba was known to practice the saxophone in isolation in the woods. Their career so far has led to a number of notable collaborations, including as a member of Beings alongside guitarist/song-writer Steve Gunn, drummer Jim White and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaili (a member of Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog). Additionally, Amba has collaborated with stellar musicians such as Tyshawn Sorey and Micah Thomas.
Given all that, the fact that they have (for now, anyway), reinvented themselves as an Appalachian folk/indie rock artist on their new album seems little short of remarkable, although there were the odd vocal clues on Beings’ 2024 album, There Is A Garden. On the new album, Eyes Full, released in June, the collaboration with The Dirty Three’s Jim White continues, with electric guitarist Kevin Hyland, a long-time friend of Amba, and band-leader in his own right, also part of the core band.
The album begins with a finger-picked solo acoustic guitar tune called “OCD,” and what stands out straight off, is Amba’s unusual voice. The lyrics throughout the album are very clearly enunciated, and the overall effect is Appalachia meets New York art rock. Imagine Karly Hartzman and her band Wednesday if they had been influenced by The Velvet Underground rather than grunge in addition to their country-folk leanings. Amba’s voice is even more steeped in Appalachia than Hartzman’s, and this is accentuated, partly due to the sparser and simpler use of instrumentation on the album.
Following the solo lead off track, most of the other songs also feature the other two core musicians, their subtle and emotive playing perfectly complementing Amba’s passionate vocal delivery. As usual, White adds value to the music, as he has done with ED Kuepper, Nina Nastasia, Hard Quartet and others, in addition to outfits he, himself has led. Hyland’s Richard Lloyd-esque guitar flourishes on standout track “Dead End Street” gives the song a Courtney Barnett feel. Elsewhere, Chris Brokaw/Thalia Zedek and Come are brought to mind. Lyrically, the songs are mostly personal and intimate, with various people and situations referenced obliquely, but without naming names. A few other session players feature on a few of the cuts, including bass guitarist Landon George (M.J. Lenderman), guitarist Adam Brisbin, drummer Jeremy Gustin, violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul, and drummer Colin Miller.
It is quite difficult to select other standout tracks on this overall excellent album but anyone unfamiliar with this very talented artist could do worse than first prioritizing “Thousand Years” and the title track “Eyes Full,” both of which have that Velvets strum and strut, in addition to “Blueberry Thorn” with the “dusty fiddle” of Fluke-Mogul, the Led Zeppelin III sounds of “Weed Eating,” and final song, “Smile With Your Eyes”. It is really exciting to see what Zoh Amba does next given the breadth of their musical talent as both a singer-songwriter and her proficiency on wind and stringed instruments. They are also a great collaborator with others from disparate musical backgrounds and genres which makes things even more intriguing for the future.