I the River

Melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre; these are the traditional building blocks of pop music. Although you will find them in abundance on I the River, the new EP by Theresa Andersson hardly sounds like conventional pop. That's because the New Orleans singer-songwriter chose to approach her craft from different perspectives before she even began composing. 'I stopped thinking in terms of traditional songwriting,' Andersson explains. 'I worked on shapes, forms, and textures, scents and colors. Elements which are more earthy and organic inspired me.'

The EP was recorded in Theresa's kitchen. She took a D.I.Y. approach to creating sounds to match what she heard in her head: The vibraphone is actually soda pop bottles filled with varying amounts of liquid, the slide guitar textures on 'Hi-Low' were coaxed from her violin, mouth percussion doubled for drums, and a classical guitar, tuned down, stood in for conventional bass.