What Else is Love

On 2005’s What Else is Love, Heather Kropf steps slightly away from the sparse folk-pop of her debut album Sky towards a fuller sound, and the misty sonic shades and introspective sentiments that characterized her first release gain more definition here. As a composer, Kropf is a miniaturist, preferring to capture fleeting moments of experience to tackling big, sweeping themes. With the aid of a bolder production approach, she adds impact to her small but telling observations. “Double Take” and “Wish,” for instance, are breezy sketches of modern relationships enlivened by a strengthened backbeat. She balances these upbeat excursions with bluesy meditations (“Daylight,” the title number) and caressing jazz pieces (“Compass Rose”). “String” boasts a particularly nuanced lyric, capturing an after-party mood with wry humor. Melodically, Kropf shows a knack for adding unexpected chords to simple folk tunes, as in “Kite.” Her distinctive vocals (at times girlish, at others worldly-wise) and elegant piano work remains at the heart of things. The overall tone of What Else is Love is quietly hopeful, evocative of late winter mornings among Northern landscapes.