I first saw Poe a while ago as an
opening act for
Seven Mary Three (no laughing!). After the show, my friends and I were
walking down high street when we saw the
bassist coming our way. I told him I liked the show and I thought they were
great (or something like that), and he didn't even make
eye contact. I got over it though, and went out and bought the
CD the next day.
The first CD, Hello, was released in 1995 on Atlantic Records. It blends a lot of sounds, from the stark almost spoken poetry of That Day to the grinding guitars and chanting of Trigger Happy Jack. Poe's voice is very melodic and the range of styles on the cd somehow manage to work together.
In 2000, Poe released her second CD on Atlantic, Haunted. This is much more of a concept album. It deals with her relationship with her father, the well known filmmaker Tad Danielewski who died in 1993. The tracks are bound together with sound clips of his voice mixed in. It also attempts to tell a story as well, a similar story to her brother Mark Z. Danielewski's book The House of Leaves. Now, this may sound odd and put some people off, but it is truly an excellent album, one might even say groundbreaking. The concept alone works much better than I could even possibly hope to explain here, and the soothing vocals, the cohesive story, the production, the music, it all works together to form a very strong and creative album. It may be a bit much for the mainstream crowd, but for those who like to experiment, I think this is a very rewarding album.
Hello (Atlantic - 1995)
Haunted (Atlantic - 2000)
She has also lent her vocal talents to Fastball's All the pain money can buy, Khaleel's People Watching, and Lounge-a-Palooza, and has produced and sung songs for the Great Expectations and Anywhere but here soundtracks.