Give A Little Space

Xenia Rubinos “Lonely Lover”

There’s barely anything in this track aside from Xenia Rubino’s voice, her bass, and Marco Buccelli’s percussion, but the song feels so robust that I barely noticed that at first. Rubino’s bass playing is dynamic and nimble, elegantly gliding from groove to groove without overwhelming the negative space or getting in the way of her own voice. I love the way her bass part will suddenly climb up or double back around Buccelli’s incredibly crisp snare hits, and how just a few perfect piano chords enter the arrangement for the chorus. Rubino and Buccelli make everything feel loose and improvised even when it’s clear that they’ve carefully thought out every bit of the song, and that carries over to her vocal, which is highly expressive and soulful, but also sorta low-key and conversational. It’s a gorgeous piece of music, and it pulls off the rare trick of seeming warm and familiar yet very distinctive and unusual.

Buy it from Bandcamp.