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ALL KILLER/NO FILLER Rachael Yamagata

Dec 04, 2008
ALL KILLER/NO FILLER Rachael Yamagata



The songbird returns from exile with a double album.

 

BY HAL BIENSTOCK & RANDY HARWARD

 

When we last heard from Rachael Yamagata, her soulful, confessional piano ballads had people calling her the heir to Carole King's throne. Her music was critically-acclaimed and popular, featured on a boatload of TV shows ranging from ER to The O.C. to How I Met Your Mother.  Then a funny thing happened:  Yamagata disappeared due to problems with management and her record label.  Four years later, she's back with Rachael Yamagata: A Record in Two Parts...Elephants and Teeth Sinking Into Hearts, a double album that shows off a new side of her personality. The Elephants album has the ballads fans swooned over on her debut, while Teeth Sinking Into Hearts is the kind of driving guitar rock people have been waiting for Liz Phair to make.

 

BLURT: Why make a double album? Aren't they usually full of filler?

 

I didn't set out to do that. I'm not usually a fan of long records or double discs. But as it took shape, there was a dark lushness and orchestration for the ballads that were on other side of spectrum from what the rock songs became. I didn't want to break up the beautiful songs with crazy rock songs, but I wanted to include them.

 

 

BLURT: The two albums are different musically, but thematically similar - exploring heartbreak and relationships. Are you normally the heartbreaker or the one who gets her heart broken?

 

I have this terrible habit of staying in something much longer than I should even when my instincts tell me it's not right. In that respect, I get my heart broken because I keep reaching for that happy ending.

 

 

BLURT: Your songs have been used in a lot of movies and TV shows. Any shows you're dying to be on?

 

I'm hooked on Lost. I've already imagined half my songs on different scenarios on Lost - like this song would be perfect when so and so finds so and so. I want to be a character on that show.

 

 

BLURT: Now that you've done piano ballads and guitar rock, what's next?

 

Hip-hop, definitely. [HB]

 

 

***

 

Reading Into: Rachael Yamagata (her handwriting says she thinks we're handsome)

 

 

At BLURT, we like to pretend we're a lot of things: astronauts, cowboys, porn stars, graphologists... Yes, dear reader, we want to join the ranks of the seers who divine personalities and criminal tendencies from signatures as much as we want to be the captain in a DVDA scene. And you know what that means: We derived great sexual pleasure from examining* Rachael Yamagata's curvy chickenscratch.

 

 

*The following is at least 33% rooted in graphological fact and contains 10% juice.

 

 

Handwriting sample: Rachael BLURTs

 

 

  • Circular handwriting indicates an agreeable, easygoing nature. Square handwriting indicates practicality. Note that she uses a blend of block and circular letters. That means she'd totally go out with us.

 

 

  • The pressure she exerts while writing is indicative of the emotional intensity or stress behind a person's behavior. The harder she pushes, the more intense or stressed she is; gentle pressure means she's cool. That she wrote on her hand, and appears to have used multiple strokes on each letter-with moderate pressure-tells us she's purring like a kitten, thinkin' of BLURT.

 

 

 

  • On unlined paper, a right or forward slant says sensitivity, while a left or backward slant says the person is douche. Fairly straight writing can indicate a balanced frame or state of mind, so we know she's not just wearin' beer goggles-she likes us. [RH]

 

 

 


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