Stream: Cold Specks, ‘Blank Maps’

Seraphina Lotkhamnga on
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“Doom soul” may sound a little scary and a bit more dreary than you’re ready for, but when you realize it’s a type of blues music the term “doom” seems appropriate. Canadian singer-songwriter Al Spx, aka Cold Specks, a soul singer who currently resides on the other side of the pond in London, England, even makes doom sound like it beautifully floats instead of looming above. Her moniker derives from a line in James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” and although that may be a bold choice, her music isn’t shy either. Her songs on her debut record, “I Predict a Graceful Explosion (out now on Mute),” are haunting, vulnerable, wise and much more; it may surprise fans to learn she’s only 23 years old. So don’t lump her in with other British pop songstresses like Adele and the late Amy Winehouse. As Cold Specks, her arrangements, written in tandem with Rob Ellis (who’s played with PJ Harvey and Anna Calvi), offer melodies without an ounce of frill but carry admirable truth.

||| Stream: “Blank Maps” and “Holland”

||| Also: Check out the a cappella “Old Stepstone.”

||| Live: Cold Specks plays tonight at the Echo with RT N’ the 44’s.