Mascott

billboard

Singer/songwriter Kendall Jane Meade is Mascott. She makes sweet music-not to be confused with saccharin-sweet music. Her debut full-length, "Follow the Sound" (released four years ago on Le Grand Magistery), was knee-deep in Dusty Springfield-hued sensibilities. Though still a sentimentalist at heart, "Dreamer's Book" finds the artist bridging the gap between Aimee Mann-styled folky rock ("Turn Off/Turn On") and the rich sonic textures of Cocteau Twins ("Time Waits"). From one song to the next, Mascott enchants. "He's not as blind as he could be/He doesn't know he's one of three/And I chose him like/He chose me," she sings in the oh-so-spry "Kite" which fondly recalls such glistening Petula Clark gems as "Round Every Corner." With sincerity, grace and passion, Meade has created her very own lush life in "Dreamer's Book."

vanity fair

Mascott is former Helium and Sparklehorse member Kendall Jane Meade, who releases the beautiful Dreamer's Book.
-Lisa Robinson

paste

On her third release, Mascott's Kendall Jane Meade still sounds charmingly vulnerable, and still writes like she's dotting her verse with unusually romantic British vernacular-once again confirming her gift for executing the three-minute pop song. With its timeless cross-section of pop modalities, Dreamer's Book is a breakthrough for Ms. Meade. She builds her imminently accessible folk-pop tracks upon a foundation of languid, melancholy-dipped ruminations, then fades out on the ether of a few earthbound rockers; this album is defined by Meade's innate sense of balance. Throughout, every mood and texture finds its complimentary match, as the icebreaking hush of the pristine "Time Waits" is melted by the glistening drama of "Song From a Dream."
Given her unassailable indie-rock pedigree, some listeners may be surprised by the decidedly VH1 direction of the sturdy, central guitar riff and quasi-soulful vocal of "Turn Off/Turn On" and thoughtfully effervescent patchwork of strings, dizzy guitar, and bouncy keys on "The Write-Up." But even if she occasionally sounds more like Dido than Chan Marshall, Dreamer's Book is teh sound of an artist commandeering and combining her favorite moments from the recorded pop canon to create something far more distinctive than it's constituent part.
-matt fink - red panda records