Tiny Vipers: Life On Earth

You really have to be in the right mood to listen to the music of Seattle singer-songwriter-guitarist Jesy Fortino, a.k.a. Tiny Vipers. It fits best with very late nights and occasions when you adamantly want to be alone, lest you spook everyone around you with, say, the pit-of-stomach moans that occupy the center of “Young God.” Fortino sure can drift, too: The 11 songs on Life On Earth, her second Sub Pop album, average nearly six minutes apiece, and there generally isn’t much going on beyond her blurry, cold-water voice (think of a much more ethereal Grace Slick) and her sturdy strums and/or intricate finger-picking. But though the songs can be hit-or-miss—“Slow Motion” is true to its title in more than just tempo, and not in a good way—she has more ideas than the basic setup indicates. “Time Takes” achieves a kind of high-wire tension thanks to cross-hatched acoustic guitars, then lets its limbs loose during a lengthy, blooming instrumental break. The rest is more earthbound.