Fontaine

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I first came across Fontaine Weyman, who goes by "Fontaine," at Radio Paradise, oh, a couple of years ago. It was her song "Running on Empty," from her debut album The Chemistry Between Us, and it was wonderful, a combination, I thought, of Mazzy Star and the Cowboy Junkies, and I became an instant fan. I couldn't find The Chemistry Between Us anywhere, though I didn't look all that hard (I'm sure I could have ordered it), but now, at long last, I found it, along with her second album, Beautiful Thing, released earlier this year, at iTunes, and it has been in heavy rotation on my iPod.

She's a lovely songwriter, with astonishing depth to her music. Her music is slow, and moody, and evocative. She was born in France but grew up in South Carolina (she's now based in L.A.), and there's a haunting, if thankfully not overpowering, southern lilt to her intoxicating, comforting voice, a pleasantly rich and sultry tone. And there is an admirable honesty about her, I find. Her lyrics don't break any new ground, but she sings with soul, and conviction -- again, much like Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies -- and she is, unfailingly, genre-denying, a fusion, of sorts, of alt-country indie folk roots.

She isn't all that well-known, alas, but deserves to be, and I highly recommend that you check out either or both of her albums. As a taste, here's the video for "Paris, Texas," off The Chemistry Between Us. Enjoy.