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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