By ERIC SCHELKOPF
eschelkopf@kcchronicle.com
Radiant Darling’s first full–length album, “Cryptomnesia,” is as innovative as its title – the CD weaves jazz with Americana music, trip–hop and eastern Indian influences.
After being a member of Chicago band Pelvic Delta for almost three years, singer Ami Saraiya decided she wanted to try something different.
“I really liked a lot of the stuff I did with Pelvic Delta,” Saraiya said. “It was a lot more R&B style and funk–groove. But I’ve been listening to more western–style music, like Johnny Cash. I just wanted to do more songwriting. In Pelvic Delta, I was writing lyrics and my own melodies, but I wasn’t really forming the songs as much.”
Radiant Darling will perform Tuesday at Uncommon Ground Coffeehouse and Cafe, 3800 N. Clark St., Chicago.
The show starts at 8 p.m.
The band first started to come together in 2002, when Saraiya began collaborating with guitarist and programmer Scott Blackburn.
“It was great working with him because he’s filled with just a lot of stories and ideas,” Saraiya said.
The album’s title fits in with their concept behind the CD.
“Cryptomnesia is the appearance and consciousness of memory images which are not recognized as such but which appear as original creations,” Saraiya said. “We were listening to a lot of the songs we wrote and thought, ‘Wow, that sounds like something we’ve heard before, but not exactly. A lot of music that is created is based on something that you’ve heard before. We listen to things and it influences us and we recreate it, maybe with a little bit of our own twist.”
Her voice has drawn many comparisons to legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday, which she takes as a compliment.
“It is always a big compliment, because she is an amazing singer,” Saraiya said. “I think it’s a lot in what she brings in her voice, the intensity she brings in her voice.”
Radiant Darling hopes to take its music through the Midwest this year, along with possibly performing in Georgia and Nashville this fall.
The band continues to hone its sound.
“We might be adding an accordion player,” Saraiya said. “I’ve recently fallen in love with the accordion. Right now, we’re doing a much more stripped down version of the band. Sometimes it’s just guitar and drums and voice, Ben Gray on drums and me. And sometimes we will add a bass player. It’s been fun playing around with the sparseness of the sound.”