New solo CDs from Paula Kelley and Leah Callahan
BY BRETT MILANO

Callahan’s softer side comes to the fore on her solo debut, Even Sleepers, which reveals the romantic nature that had been obscured in Turkish Delight and Betwixt. Mixing German and Brazilian influences with a bit of Nico-era Velvet Underground, it offers an individual take on cabaret music. On stage, she’s covered both the Liza Minnelli number "Mein Herr" (from the musical Cabaret) and the Velvets’ "I’ll Be Your Mirror," and the nine originals on her disc come from a similar place, elegant on the surface, a little dangerous underneath.

But the solo album wasn’t planned as any kind of deliberate career move — rather, it was the result of a chance meeting with musician-about-town Shaun Wolf Wortis. "I didn’t really know him until we started talking one night after a show. I sang him a couple of songs a cappella, and he said he heard influences like tango and klezmer — for me it was exciting to finally be validated as a songwriter rather than just for stage presence. And he said, ‘If you can write seven more songs, I’d really like to produce an album of this.’ So I went right to work to see if I could come up with some cool songs to impress him with."

Given eight days to do the writing, Callahan barely left the house. "It was extremely intense. I got some coffee and some red wine, and some records — Cat Power, Magnetic Fields, PJ Harvey. Not necessarily as inspiration, but I used them as someone might use hallucinogenics, just to get into a meditative state." More-abstract influences came into play as well. "I remember reading a neat review of the Beatles — someone saying he heard 18th-century British music in their influences. So who’s to say that I’m not influenced by previous generations of my family, people like my grandmother, who I would’ve loved to talk about music with? Hope I’m not sounding too Shirley MacLaine here."

Wortis was sufficiently impressed that he left the songs virtually untouched, backing her only with a single guitar, bass, or keyboard (engineer Joel Simches plays some Beatle-esque mellotron on one track). And Callahan’s lyrics are more direct than they’ve been in the past, whether they’re about love or other diversions ("I wish I could be drunk all the time," she sings on "Shocking Pink," which recalls the Velvets’ "Afterhours"). "I wouldn’t disown anything I’ve done, but I probably am improving as a songwriter," she admits. "Maybe it’s because we let the melodies stand instead of throwing dissonance on them."

Instead of having a conventional release party, Callahan and some friends — including burlesque artist Mary Mac and cabaret singer Brian King — will be hosting variety shows at Jacque’s on the second Friday of every month, beginning this Friday, September 12. "We realized we were a fan of the same things, like Bette Midler in her bathhouse days." More proof that it’s still possible to find a reference point that’s never been cited before.

ANYONE WITH A LOVE OF ALL that’s haunting and ethereal should by now have caught the collaboration between local avant-folk duo Damon & Naomi and guitarist Michio Kurihara, of the Japanese band Ghost. His playing has proved the perfect complement to the duo’s delicate psychedelia, and they’ve done two albums (including last year’s live set, Song to the Siren). But visa problems have made their live dates few and far between. Kurihara will be in town next week to work on their next album, and they’re using the opportunity to sneak in a live show at T.T. the Bear’s Place this Wednesday, September 10. Expect to hear material from the album in progress, and maybe the lovely Tim Buckley title track from Song to the Siren.

CAPTION: HER HEART IS IS THE '60s: Kelley lives for pop, loves Bacharach and the Bee Gees, and often looks as if she'd stepped out of a fashion mag from that era.

CAPTION: AT LONG LAST CHANTEUSE: Callahan's softer side comes to the fore on her solo debut, which reveals the romantic nature that had been obscured in Turkish Delight and Betwixt.