Nouela and Brian at The Sunset (credit: Christen Shaw)

People Eating People is the solo piano pop project of Seattle artist Nouela Johnston, and it is absolutely astounding. Johnston has gone through much turbulence to arrive at her current position. In 2007, Johnston was locked into a contract with Mon Frere, the band who won the SoundOff! Battle of the Bands in 2007, which she immediately regretted. Johnston dropped from the band which caused her “[...] a shit-ton of legal messes,” as she explained to The Stranger earlier this week. Unable to release her own music until, among other things, the sum of $5,000 be paid to Cake Records, and she played and toured for-hire with three other bands: Say Hi, Fall of Troy, and Creature Feature. All the while, Johnston was recording a demo which eventually reached the hands of Nabil Ayers, current label manager for 4AD, who offered to release her full-length album.

Her self-titled album, People Eating People, released in November 2009, is an emotional outpouring of jazzy vocals and piano. Johnston is classically trained in jazz piano — she began performing recitals by the age of 4. Being that she is classically trained, her music is technically masterful and complex — her vocals are to match. Her lyrics are personal and emotionally driven; we can see such in “I Hate All My Friends.” Pounding and fast jazz keys supplement her apparent anger as she sings a tale of lies and deceit. With “All The Hospitals,” Johnston shows her flexibility as a jazz pianist. Fluctuating, complex rhythms, all the while delivering the similarly fluctuating jazz-style vocals. A highly emotional tale of depression, making references to suicide amongst other things; “don’t cut too deep, take all those pills…don’t swallow… everyone you love is on your side.”

People Eating People — “All the Hospitals,” from People Eating People (2009) | download
Download audio file (PeopleEatingPeople.mp3)

See below for upcoming shows, live videos, and a video interview.

People Eating People is being very well received in the Seattle music scene and have what seems to be a glowing career ahead. People Eating People are not currently on tour, but frequently play shows locally at just about all the venues here in Seattle. Information about show dates/times are frequently updated on People Eating People’s myspace page, myspace.com/peopleeatingpeople.

Upcoming Shows

Mar 9 2010 8:00P
Chop Suey Seattle, Washington

Mar 13 2010 8:00P
Sunset Tavern Seattle, Washington

Mar 26 2010 8:00P
The Moore Theater Seattle, Washington

May 14 2010 8:00P
Chop Suey Seattle, Washington

Band Members

• Nouela Johnston
• Recorded Drums: Mark Gajadhar
• Recorded/live Drums: Ben Libay/Brian Turner
• Recorded Guitar: Christiaan Morris

Elizabeth & the Catapult - Taller Children

Despite what could be construed as a strangely typical name for this era of music, Elizabeth & the Catapult are hardly the typifying outfit of the accompanying sound. Inflected with vocals with a style more keen on jazz than post-punk and an outright affinity for Cocteausian dream pop, Taller Children is something “new” from the outset.

Elizabeth & the Catapult — “Taller Children” | download
Download audio file (TallerChildren.mp3)

Produced largely by Saddle Creek alumnus Mike Mogis — the one exception is the titular track, which was produced by Jim Eno of Spoon and the dubious-careered Jon Kaplan (who has produced such masterworks as … the Jonas Brothers!) — Taller Children is a solid pop record with a cheerful melodic bent taking the musical front seat in the recording, and the production supports that without becoming intrusive. Never does a song sound overproduced or forced, much to the album’s benefit.

Elizabeth & the Catapult take their good pop sensibilities, merge them with good songwriting, and top it off with gentle, proven production to create a record that will satisfy the appetites of pop-lovers across the globe. Taller Children — replete with catchy hooks, engaging rhythm, and vocals that occupy a new niche of indie pop — is memorable for the best reasons. It shifts seamlessly between being upbeat and infectious and taking a more slow, introspective approach.

Taller Children has tracks ranging from pure, innocent indie pop (“Momma’s Boy”) and seductive neo-jazz (“Right Next to You”) to a string-laden Leonard Cohen cover (“Everybody Knows”) and jazz-inflected bluegrass (“Complimentary Me”) — the diversity isn’t overwhelming, but it is refreshing, and it keeps the album from becoming yet another homogenous effort from a promising act. Elizabeth & the Catapult now have a real task ahead of them: Produce a second album that’s engaging, interesting, and different enough from this release to make a mark on the dense landscape of indie pop. If I’m to guess, this act is up to it.

Released June 9, 2009 on Verve Forecast