I apologize for the long delay between reviews. I’ve
been on holiday and haven’t found a lot of music listening time that met the
criteria under Rule #4. But…I’m back!
This next album came out 60 years after my last
review (Frank Sinatra’s “In the Wee Small Hours”). Time marches on and so does
the unquenchable thirst for musicians to create.
Disc 1212 is… Shifted
Artist: Harpeth
Rising
Year of Release: 2015
What’s up with the Cover? From left to right we have Maria
Di Meglio, Jordana Greenberg and Rebecca Reed-Lunn, all of whom are showing a
lot of arm.
This
band’s lineup has changed a few times over the years (including since this
album was released) so having a cover photo of who is on each album is more
important than usual.
How I Came To Know It: I read about it in an article on
Paste Magazine called “10 more obscure folk albums to add to your collection”
by writer Jim Vorel.
How It Stacks Up: I have five Harpeth Rising albums. Of those I
had reserved the #1 spot for “Shifted” but after listening to it, I can’t give
it the 4 stars I had anticipated. That puts it behind “Dead Man’s Hand” which I
move into first place, dropping “Shifted” into a still respectable second.
Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4
“Shifted” is the first Harpeth Rising album I heard,
and it will always hold a special place in my heart. This time around it lacked
emotional resonance in places, but it is still a solid folk record from a band
that deserves more recognition.
This is the band’s fourth studio album, and there is
a self-assuredness to their presentation, and a willingness to experiment. This
willingness reveals itself in even larger helpings of classical music elements
than on previous records. The band has always blended classical training and
technique into their unique brand of folk music, but on “Shifted” they take it
to a new level.
Jordana Greenberg’s playing is the first signal of
the ‘shift’ with less fiddle and more violin than ever from her instrument. She
is a gifted player in either style, however, so the increased focus didn’t
bother me.
Greenberg is also the singer, and while she may be
guilty of over-enunciating the lyrics this is preferable to me than albums
where I can’t tell what the vocalist is mumbling about. No danger of that here,
with Jordana’s vocals bright and high in the mix. These songs often have
complex construction for instruments and voice alike, and Greenberg manages the
gymnastics of it all well. I might have wondered if she could even sing and
play these violin/fiddle parts at the same time, but I’ve seen them live enough
on Youtube and can attest it really happens.
Rebecca Reed-Lunn’s banjo continues to ground the
songs. She has a sprightly touch on the strings and more often than not it is
the reliable brilliance of her playing that gives Greenberg the freedom to move
her vocal phrasing around in the song without it being jarring. The banjo’s
jump also contrasts well against Greenberg’s relatively low vocal register and
adds a lot of energy to melodies that are smartly written, but not always
easily accessible.
Sometimes the songs are too clever for their own good.
On “The Raid” you get over-indulgent stanzas
like:
“Miss Informed is
explaining to Miss Understand
While yonder Miss
Fortune holds out her hand
And Miss Taken
Identity just got her very next ride.”
Kill your darlings, Harpeth Rising! “The Raid” withstands this particular
stanza because it is otherwise a great song that features some killer cello
from Maria Di Meglia but the ladies play with fire like this too often on the
album.
All that cool musicianship and cleverness takes its
toll on Greenberg’s delivery, such as on their cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me To the End of Love.” This is
one of my all-time favourite Cohen songs but Harpeth Rising’s version has just
a bit too much going on. The violin and cello are again great but overall the
song doesn’t have the emotional resonance it needs. This is a song laden with
sexual overtones and intimacy, but the singing here feels distant and cerebral.
I liked that Harpeth Rising did something different with the song, but in the
process they stripped it off the qualities that make it great.
Fortunately, everything comes together on the album’s
final track. “Shifted” (the song)
features incredible harmonies, clever structure and – most importantly – it captures
the right emotional resonance the lyrics call for. The song views self-doubt
and confidence through the same prism, each contributing to the other. It is a
song that recognizes that while every decision in life can mould us in unpredictable
ways it is also this uncertainty that helps makes us strong. Or as Jordana
sings it:
“Something has
shifted, I can’t feel the ground
Can’t tell if I’m floating
or heading straight down
But something has
moved me, off of my tracks
Got nothin’ to
guide me, and I’m not going back.”
“Shifted”
also features all three band members playing lights out. While the album is too
uneven overall to hold down 4 stars, “Shifted”
plus a few other choice tracks, make it all well worth the price of admission.
Best
tracks: I Am Eve
(I Am the Reason), Proof, The Raid, Shifted
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