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JANUARY 25 2011

Album Review
Ash St. John - False Prophecies EP.
Release Date: February 1, 2011
C- (70/100)
Ash St. John's sparse arrangements and engaging voice are eminently listenable; his lyrics make False Prophecies a bit less so.
Music: 15/20
Simple almost to a fault, it's just St. John's voice and a guitar, with an occasional violin, piano, tambourine, or electronic element—and it's quite pleasant, but certainly not Earth-shattering. The stripped-down effect is prevalent throughout the EP, and St. John has shown an incredible amount of restraint—perhaps too much for an album so short: I'd like to hear a denser arrangement of strings, more harmonies; St. John has a smooth, light voice that would sound stronger and more interesting doubled, or tripled over itself.

Lyrics: 5/20
The record's writing is its drawback—there's just nothing new here: St. John's formulaic, vaguely devotional, sometimes confounding lyrics make the EP feel like twice its 14 minutes. For instance, the first line of the quasi-titular track, "False Prophecy": It's that exhilarated feeling / getting out there on your own / It's that exalted, wondrous feeling / sharing part of your soul—overly adjective-y, rhyme-y, and generally convoluted—it sounds exactly like something penned by the tortured musician character in that play Rent.

Production: 16/20
Andy Keech produced and engineered the record, and he does a good job of bringing the most out of St. John's sparse arrangements, layering parts and effects in just the right places to keep the listener's ear. In "False Propecy," a violin part morphs into an ambient electronic pattern, then fades out leaving St. John's guitar; In "This Is Not Your Day," the strings swell cathartically before dropping to a dreamy, legato pairing of violin and piano; In "Some Distant Place," the whoooosh of cars and trucks down a county road become a part of the sonic landscape. All in all, the album sounds pretty good.

Technical Proficiency: 20/20
False Prophecies is a technically proficient record.

Overall: 14/20
With each listen, Ash St. John's short EP becomes more palatable, but his lyrics have a long way to go. That said, I'm excited to see what he drums up in the coming months—the press kit for Prophecies reads "look for a new Ash St. John album in late 2011." He's given himself a lot of space to work with, and it should be fascinating to see what comes of it.

Todd Pitman
Ash St. John releases False Prophecies next Tuesday, February 1. He celebrates the new album on Friday, February 4 at the Beat Coffeehouse in Uptown, as part of their Songwriters & Storytellers series. St. John's music is available through his website: AshStJohn.com