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Song Premiere, Robin Bacior, 'If It Does'

Robin Bacior's new album, <em>Water Dreams</em>, comes out Jan. 13.
Kim Smith Miller
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Courtesy of the artist
Robin Bacior's new album, Water Dreams, comes out Jan. 13.

Robin Bacior's honeyed but vibrant voice hits gently, bestowing the listener with comfort and calm. The Portland singer-songwriter knows exactly what kind of arrangements suit her best: In "If It Does," from her forthcoming album Water Dreams, that gorgeous voice is laid atop a spare but shimmering bed of piano — and paired perfectly with Dan Bindschedler's cello.

This is subtle, nuanced music: Like the rest of Bacior's work, "If It Does" doesn't grab you audaciously. But it doesn't let go, either.

Here's Bacior, writing about "If It Does":

"I watched a lot of artists, my friends, be swept up or dumped by hype, and all the crazy behavior it brought out. Music is a hard, volatile business, but above that it's a passion, and the mix of those two left me with a lot of chaotic emotion. 'If It Does' is about my frustration with buzz, but it's also about putting that aside and allowing myself to believe in something. Not wishing anything over the top, just to write and play songs that people can enjoy."

Robin Bacior's Water Dreams comes out Jan. 13, 2015.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)
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