NEWS
EVENTS
Paper Dollhouse
Indie | Thursday 22nd December 2011 | Osh
“Blues-inflected psychedelic fairy tales, music for scenes in films that haven't yet happened” is how singer/songwriter Astrud Steehouder describes her sound.
Steehouder first burst onto the scene with folk rock trio The Rayographs. For her solo work, she goes by the name Paper Dollhouse, an allusion to the ’80s cult horror film Paperhouse. Her debut album A Box Painted Black released in December 2011 has an eerie vibe while maintaining folk aesthetics. The songs are raw and emotional and sound almost under-produced. But that risk pays off, with the resultant record sounding minimalistic and visceral. Astrud manages to make simple acoustic songs, pop with the eclectic use of atmospherics. The fact that the album was recorded in her home is very apparent in the hazy mixing. She resists the temptation to clean up the sound and the record is better for it. The bleak lyrics compliment the delicate structures.
Paper Dollhouse channels the spookiness of horror film soundtracks. At the same time, Astrud’s folk-pop influences are on full display. In the saturated world of pop music, Paper Dollhouse is a breath of fresh air. And the best part is that Astrud’s just getting started, so who knows where this goes.
Steehouder first burst onto the scene with folk rock trio The Rayographs. For her solo work, she goes by the name Paper Dollhouse, an allusion to the ’80s cult horror film Paperhouse. Her debut album A Box Painted Black released in December 2011 has an eerie vibe while maintaining folk aesthetics. The songs are raw and emotional and sound almost under-produced. But that risk pays off, with the resultant record sounding minimalistic and visceral. Astrud manages to make simple acoustic songs, pop with the eclectic use of atmospherics. The fact that the album was recorded in her home is very apparent in the hazy mixing. She resists the temptation to clean up the sound and the record is better for it. The bleak lyrics compliment the delicate structures.
Paper Dollhouse channels the spookiness of horror film soundtracks. At the same time, Astrud’s folk-pop influences are on full display. In the saturated world of pop music, Paper Dollhouse is a breath of fresh air. And the best part is that Astrud’s just getting started, so who knows where this goes.
