Saturday, 7 November 2015

Natalie Merchant - Paradise Is There

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Magnificent



I think this is quite wonderful.  Natalie Merchant has re-recorded the songs from her 1995 classic Tigerlily here; it could be a disastrous move to mess with such fine, well-loved songs, but it works brilliantly.  In her brief, thoughtful notes about this recording Natalie Merchant describes the profound impact which the originals of these songs had on many people, describing them as "small, courageous things that spoke about being human, about being flawed, betrayed, devoted, and bereaved."  That's exactly what they are, and their character is beautifully served by the arrangements and performances here.

The arrangements are beautiful, I think – superbly balanced, largely acoustic and very sensitive to the material.  The band is excellent throughout.  Many songs feature strings, but this is a world away from the overbearing string-wash which swamps so many arrangements with what is effectively acoustic filler; there is just a string quartet who play superbly, and what they play is genuine music.  In The Letter, for example, Natalie is accompanied by just the quartet, and what they play reminds me in places of the magnificent slow movement of Beethoven's A minor quartet Op.132 which I think is among the greatest of all music, so we're getting very, very good stuff here.

Natalie's singing is just magical.  She is one of those rare artists who can combine music, lyrics and performance to break your heart with a single phrase, and she's on superb form here.  That haunting voice is full of simple sincerity and she has the skill to make these 20-year-old songs speak freshly. At one point, for example, her voice fades and almost breaks up on the words "seven years."  The effect is heart-piercing, and it's a brilliant and courageous decision not to re-take it with a more conventionally acceptable delivery.  The album is shot through with of such moments and I find these performances absolutely spellbinding.

I simply cannot fault this album.  I was a pretty dubious before I heard this about what is effectively a remake of a classic album, but I was quite wrong - it's a very worthy successor to her brilliant self titled album, which I thought that was one of the best albums of 2014.  I think this is among the best of 2015.  It's truly excellent, and very warmly recommended.


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