The Morning After: Mia Vigar's True Adventures Happen Inside Your Head

True Adventures Happen Inside Your Head, released November 3rd in the U.K.

Few things pique my intrigue or raise the indignant eyebrow of my skepticism more so than any time a fledgling act is said, in any way shape or form, to reside in the musical vein of one Joanna Newsom. After all, the sparklingly singular harpist, tale-weaver, and Renaissance Faire progeny is so incomparably unique, for better or, occasionally, for worse, that for anyone else to be compared to her puts that person under quite the microscope—it’s true that row after row of potential inheritors to the throne have fallen short. So when the name Mia Vigar scooted across the musical landscape under headlines of Newsom-ness, I braced myself for the slim possibility of being very pleasantly surprised, and the great likelihood that this new artist would find her music subject to the same shortcomings of virtuosity and intellect that have plagued others aiming to attain the mantle.

Ah, hell. Ah, sweet sweet disappointment! There are only a handful of tracks here that don’t border on that most unfortunate of adjectives (annoying), and the vocals seem more overtly affected than naturally nuanced. Also, the childlike instrumentation seems like a poor parallel of Hanne Hukkelberg, who herself can get into trouble with musical cutesiness. While the harp-playing antecedent of Vigar’s comparison forged a reputation via the combination of uniqueness and near-obsessive attention to detail, Vigar seems to get by more on idiosyncrasy than songcraft—most of the tunes here feel a little cobbled together, relying on the strangeness of the sounds themselves to propel the listener’s interest, rather than the compelling arrangement of those sounds. True, there are some nice songs here, but not many, and when it all comes down it, this small-step-in-the-right-direction album can be most accurately described using the title of its best, most finished, and replayable track: “I Wish You Rocked My World.” Oh well, maybe next time.

Report Card: C