Review: Elisapie Isaac’s first solo CD a hit

Elisapie Isaac’s first solo CD: “… a wonderful, dreamlike collection of songs that never seem overdone, and that grow on you with each repeated listen.”

A friend calls it Inuit Lounge Music.

And perhaps that’s not a bad way to describe Elisapie Isaac’s new CD, as long as you know it’s meant as a compliment.

Because There Will Be Stars, Isaac’s first solo CD is a delightful piece of pop candy that somehow manages to deliver serious emotional impact and honesty, while still being fun to listen to, and to swirl around the kitchen to in dreamy reverie.

Isaac’s voice and vocal delivery can be strong, but never overpowering, like on the standout cut, “Nothing In This World is Free,” when she sings: “nothing in this world is free, but I will find my way back to me.”

And yet sometimes, on the sadder songs, she presents a plaintive and charming vulnerability, as on, Why Would I Cry, when she offers, “there is no more space in your heart for me; there is no more room in your bed for me,” then adds determinedly, “before you take me again, I will run; before you break me again, I will run.”

The arrangements and instrumentation, which includes a variety of electronic keyboard sounds that just avoid becoming cheesy, a whimsical string quartet, echoing electric guitar and dobro chords, and even the plink of a ukulele, both compliment her voice and emphasize the lounge effect.

And the French pop influence of her Québécois accompanists, and her years of living in Montreal, also adds a gallic charm to the overall sound.

Isaac switches effortlessly among Nunavik’s three languages — Inuktitut, French and English — to weave her magic, often changing tongues within the same song.

Perhaps the influence of her northern homeland comes through most strongly in the spare, quiet moments that mix softly spoken words with silence to create an effect not unlike those moments on the tundra when you walk over a hill and leave the comforts of human society behind.

Overall, Isaac has produced a wonderful, dreamlike collection of songs that never seem overdone, and that grow on you with each repeated listen.