Patricia Bahia - Save Your Heart

Patricia Bahia

Save Your Heart
self-released; 2015

3.5 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Before Patricia Bahia was songwriter she was a singer. She was a jazz singer as well as a singer with the acclaimed Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir. The catalyst to start writing music actually came when she was getting treatment for cancer that she was diagnosed with. After making the best of a bad situation she got to work writing music and has since released a good amount of music. Her latest is entitled Save Your Heart.

Anyway you splice it Save Your Heart is a pop album. With that Save Your Heart primarily revolves around acoustic instruments and a singer/songwriter type vibe. There were definitely some songs that resonated with me more than others. Some songs were almost hyperbolically optimistic and carefree while others are reflective and melancholy. Lyrically, the album contains somewhat simple, straightforward language. There isn’t much interpretation needed for these songs because the topics and ideas are clearly presented.

The album opens with “Resilient” which was inspired by the teenage Pakastani activist Malala Yousafzai. I have to say the song felt like a bit of an odd choice to open up the album but not because of the topic but because of the production. Between the heavy hitting electronic percussion, synth inspired breakdown and fast BPM “Resilient” plays like a motivational dance song that isn’t indicative of the sequential styles to come. I was reminded of the song “Believe” by Cher. 

The next song “Good Day” dismisses any kind of negative energy and is so optimistic that it transcends the mundane feelings most people have going about their life. It has an almost Feist type energy except it feels a little bit more mainstream and prone to play in a place like Starbucks. 

Up next is “Blue on Top of Blue” which is another distinct deviation. Bahia sings with melancholy and in my opinion it's the emotion that sounds best with her style. She takes her time singing on this track and you can sit back and really take in her inspired vocal performance. 

As the album progresses it goes between inspirational hope to extremely optimistic and back to melancholy. During the song “Happy Birthday” all I could imagine is a choreographed dance routine done by the staff at Disney with smiles as big as the sun.

The highlights were “Save Your Heart” and ”Love Sweet Love.” Both songs were well written. I enjoyed the vocal performance on “Save You Heart.” “Love Sweet Love” was another really optimistic sounding song but it didn’t feel like it was quite as intense as some of the previous tracks, which contained almost too much joy and happiness. 

Save Your Heart is a mainstream sounding pop album. I think most people will know fairly quickly if this is their cup of time. That being said when you take a listen try out a couple different tracks because one style will most likely resonate with you more than another.

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