TRAiPSiNG THRU the AiSLES: add these to your basket
October 7, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
The Australian songwriter and instrumentalist has linked her thirteenth studio LP to a book-length memoir set for release later in the month. Kasey Chambers' music has always been rooted in her native country and sometimes in her own story, but never to this extent. "Backbone (The Desert Child)" speaks to her Southern Australian youth, one of several cuts augmented by country fiddle: At night the words were spoken / Will the circle be unbroken / And the voice went higher from the family choir. "Silverado Girl" and "Arlo" tell of her own children, loving stories owning up to her parenting missteps and challenges. Chambers wrote Backbone in its entirety, with frequent collaborator Brandon Dodd supporting on a couple tracks. While country music serves as the stylistic compass for the majority of the songs, she has brought a definite gospel influence to others. "New Day Has Come" is an uplifting declaration of devotion, featuring pedal steel and a repeated affirmation that Everything's gonna be alright. Kasey Chambers' distinct voice has served as her calling card since her 1999 debut, and Backbone demonstrates how her instrument has aged masterfully. We'll sing hallelujah / Until it hurts she testifies on "For Better Or Worse", swelling from an acoustic ballad to an anthem with slide guitar and organ, Chambers evoking Emmylou Harris. The variety of her new collection is impressive, from the lighthearted contemporary country of "Love Like Springsteen" to the drunken romp of "Divorce Song", co-written and sung with her former husband and recording partner Shane Nicholson: Maybe we did it all wrong / Kinda fucked everything up ... We couldn't survive as the marrying kind / But we do divorce pretty good. The soulful "Something To Believe In" could be a show stopper, with its own strong helping of electric guitar. While she has been reliably prolific since the start, Kasey Chambers' past couple projects haven't received their due attention. The inclusion here of an unexpected live eight-minute cover of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" should serve as a reminder of her talent and range. We're fortunate that a fan-shot video of the 2022 Newcastle performance is available, where her band's fiery accompaniment can be appreciated, not to mention Chambers' own transcendent delivery (there is absolutely no reason it should work so well). As a songwriter, a vocalist, and a performer, Kasey Chambers deserves a place in the conversation about the most worthy in our kind of music, and Backbone proves she's not quite ready to settle into her place as just another legacy artist.
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Erisy Watt, not either or but everything (Watt, Oct 4)
Much of the perspective and the introspection on Erisy Watt's third album can be traced back to her day job as an environmental scientist. In that guise, the LA artist has traveled the country and the world, fostering an appreciation for the tentative fabric between our interior life and the teeming lives around us (I'm always where I'm going / I'm always where I've been, she sings). Produced by Luke Temple who also covers bass, keys, and backing vocals, not either or reflects that balance, overlaying Watt's acoustic indie folk with electric, sometimes otherworldly guitars and studio sounds. Will Graefe's guitars drone on "Anywhere With You", both gauzy and grounded as Watt sings of The energy / The entropy / The dishes in the kitchen sink. "Say It Louder" takes on a country lilt, with pedal steel and the singer's acoustic strum accompanying her introspection: How I unravel / Tugging at the seams where the fabric is fragile / God damn I want to believe, but I'm a doubter. Erisy Watt's songs are most engaging when she and Temple add a touch of relative complexity to their arrangements. "Rest" takes an angular approach a'la Fiona Apple, as the songwriter recalls the lessons she was taught coming of age - cupping a baby bird, fingering chords on a guitar. "Start Again" is upbeat, with a melodic vocal on the chorus rubbing shoulders against the later feedback and squeal. On not either or but everything, Watt demonstrates smart lyrical insight on songs like "Tried To Say", and takes a more poetic approach on the lovely "Sandhill Crane": No sound from my mouth / Will sum up the worth / Of the sandhill crane / The rain on the roof / Or the call to prayer. Since her last record, the songwriter relocated from Portland (It's winter in Portland / And the gray grows like mold), and listeners may hear similarities to Rose City stalwarts like Haley Heynderickx or Anna Tivel in Erisy Watt's artistry. Consider adding conservationist/poet Rachel Carson to the list, honored here with "Rachel". Like the trailblazing scientist and artist, not either or but everything strikes out on its own, providing a glimpse through far away places into the psyche of a young songwriter: Is it in the edges or the exchange / The tangle of tributaries / Mixing on the floodplain.
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