Medejin’s cover of Tomo’s Nakayama’s “Roma” highlights, in its simplicity, how beautiful and strange the original composition is at its core. Medejin’s rendition feels especially haunting and hollow in the best way. Perhaps it’s because Jenn Taranto abandons her soft approach to downtempo shoegaze and the listener is just left with piano and voice, giving you the space to fully appreciate how strange some of the chord progressions are.
It’s a gorgeous cover. It’s strong and confident. I feel like I can hear Medejin taking this song personally and loving it. It’s a very comfortable vocal performance and the comfort resonates with me, making me want to dig deeper into both projects.
I’ve followed Tomo in some capacity for about 10 years. His orchestration with Grand Hallway is as solid as any chamber pop act ever and it is equally strong if not better in his solo work. I’ve always appreciated his predisposition for more off the beaten path elements on his music. I think that sets him apart from a lot of his peers and I think that’s what will set Medejin apart too.
I used the term downtempo shoegaze to describe Medejin’s sound, but really, that’s such an oversimplification. They draw comfortably from everything to trip-hop to folk. The ease with which they blend all these influences is something of note. They describe themselves as ethereal, which hits the nail in the head as this seems to be the common thread through all the different influences they balance. Looking forward to hearing more of this band.
Jenn will play a solo Medejin set as part of the Ball of Wax 59 show this Friday. Don’t miss it!