Renata Zeiguer - Faraway Business

 “Faraway Business” is a four-song EP from Brooklyn singer/songwriter Renata Zeiguer. It serves as a stopgap while she prepares her sophomore album and includes two remakes of tracks from her Old Ghost debut, also released by Northern Spy last year. The title track is a rough translation of the Brazilian bossa nova ‘Chega de Saudade’ that Zeiguer (the daughter of Portuguese and Philippine immigrants) cherished so much during her childhood. Sung in Portuguese, her cha cha cha rendition is based on the arrangement by Joao Gilberto and features an Ace Tone drum machine from the 60s to give it that extra period ambiance.

‘Permanent Lonely’ was learned off a collection of old Willie Nelson demos and effectively captures the mood of walking through the woods on a snowy evening, which was the impetus behind its recording.

The two re-recordings from Zeiguer’s debut are attempts to recapture the feel of their original demo versions. ‘Gravity’ is a one-woman band version, with Zeiguer playing all the instruments and singing in her squeaky, little-girl-on-helium voice. Although she set out to give the track a more hi-fi vibe, it still sounds a tad underdeveloped with muffled backing that may actually have worked better if she had an actual band behind her.

‘Wayside’ goes in the other direction, taking the original album track, slowing it down and trying to give it more of a lo-fi, fuzzy garage groove. Unfortunately, it’s all rather overmodulated and sloppy, with Zeiguer’s re-recorded vocals straining to outshout the noisy racket in the background.