Raquel Marina - Kind Words
(Self Produced, 2025)
What I like most about Canadian Raquel Marina’s voice is it is plain. This is no criticism of the singer. The Canadian singer’s voice is so authentic, not marred by learned affectations or the hubris to effect such. Marina just sings, expressing the complex and the mundane in simple, understandable emotional terms. Marina sings with an attractive, vibratoless voice not unlike that of Chet Baker, except with an emotive affect.
“Take me to the ocean. My mother is there for me.
With blessings and forgiveness, may I find some clarity.”
Marina has used some unidentified personal loss as a stressor for the material found on her first full-length album, Kind Words. The album comprises seven original compositions by the singer and is presented by a well-chosen ensemble that includes: pianist Reuven Grajner, bassist Chris Adriaanse, guitarist Julien Bradley-Combs, and trumpeter Kae Murphy. This instrumental quartet provides the singer with an elegant and tasteful accompaniment, a characteristic enhanced by the drummerless format.
The environment created by this band is an interesting mixture of keen virtuosity and journeyman workmanship. They can stretch out and show their chops, but never at the expense of the vocalist. These elements gel on “My Bohemian Hour” cowritten and performed by Alyssa Giammaria. The guitarist Bradley-Combs gently supports the song, deep in reverb, while Marina and Giammaria spin a delicate revere:
I believe in paisley flowers
Where teardrops fall and melt for hours
The tasselled leaves and crystal rocks are the prettiest onesMy Bohemian hour is layered with you for its natural power
Barefoot grass with a life that’s past but my time is moving slow…
A sweet fever dream in motion.
The charms are many on Kind Words, understated, insinuated, and whispered quietly.