Songs for a Hurricane
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
A favorite of folk fans in the Boston area, the singer-songwriter makes a striking bid for a broader audience with her third release. The propulsive "East of the Mountains" and "Short Work" benefit from the backbeat of former Morphine drummer Billy Conway (Delmhorst's co-producer), while "Hurricane" builds to a furious climax through the Neil Young-style guitar squall of Kevin Barry. Multi-instrumentalist Delmhorst seasons various tracks with fiddle, cello, and guitars. Though her breathy, brooding vocals can occasionally sound a bit mannered--giving a cloying quality to the overly precious "Hummingbird"--most of the musical settings reinforce the power of her elemental imagery. While the bulk of the material evokes the turbulence of a relationship, the conviction that Delmhorst brings to her music suggests that it would take an awfully strong wind to blow her away. --Don McLeese
Songs for a Hurricane,Kris Delmhorst,Signature Records,Folk,Folk & Traditional,Pop,Popular Music,With vocals that are warm and accessible, Delmhorst lovingly mixes folk, singer-songwriter pop, gospel, and country styles, even adding jazzy flourishes for good measure. Still, this is no genre-jumping hodgepodge.
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Songs for a Hurricane
Kris Delmhorst Manufacturer: Signature Sounds Recordingss ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
| Folk
| Styles
| Music
Traditional Folk
| Folk
| Styles
| Music
General
| Traditional Country
| Country
| Styles
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B0000AGWGB Release Date: 2003-08-12 |
Tracks:
Amazon.com
A favorite of folk fans in the Boston area, the singer-songwriter makes a striking bid for a broader audience with her third release. The propulsive "East of the Mountains" and "Short Work" benefit from the backbeat of former Morphine drummer Billy Conway (Delmhorst's co-producer), while "Hurricane" builds to a furious climax through the Neil Young-style guitar squall of Kevin Barry. Multi-instrumentalist Delmhorst seasons various tracks with fiddle, cello, and guitars. Though her breathy, brooding vocals can occasionally sound a bit mannered--giving a cloying quality to the overly precious "Hummingbird"--most of the musical settings reinforce the power of her elemental imagery. While the bulk of the material evokes the turbulence of a relationship, the conviction that Delmhorst brings to her music suggests that it would take an awfully strong wind to blow her away. --Don McLeeseCustomer Reviews:
Songs for anyone who likes acoustic music, hurricane, drought, or otherwise.......2006-03-26
Trains and Hurricanes!.......2005-02-13
Why isn't she a star?.......2004-05-17
One more time.......2004-03-13
Unforgettable Voice, Beautiful Music.......2004-01-27
"East of the Mountains"
This country ballad displays something of Delmhorst's feel for a range of music styles. The voice here has all the rich texture of the gentler songs on the album, but applied to a quick-tempo tale of a woman "sent away" by her family, never to see her lover again, Delmhorst registers both sensual longing and resilient anger.
"Bobby Lee"
Of the many songs on the album that give Delmhorst a chance to really give the warmth of her voice full sway, this along with "Mingalay" may be the best. And while the star here is the wonderful tone of voice that gives the song's simple melody its full emotional range, the more I listen, the more I find myself thinking about its subject... the difficulty of "rolling the stone away" in a maybe-permanently broken relationship.
This song is a great example of just how resourceful a musician Delmhorst is, neither just a singer nor just a songwriter. You sense here that the album has a non-ostentatious feel for making use of its range of resources, much like you do when you listen to Merrie Amsterberg's "Little Steps" or Lucinda Williams' "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" (as different as those artists are from Delmhorst).
"Juice and June"
At her most sultry here, Delmhorst and her band take it slow to get across the beauty of dancing toward passion, under the influence of "juice and June." The lovely risks of letting yourself fall too soon, which are slyly linked here to the pleasures of indulging in the music itself, give the song that wonderful quality of being a song about falling that lures its listener into falling for the song's own "juice and June."
"Hurricane"
I just have to begin by saying that this one sends chills down my spine. Again, and again. Why? Well, the song is about loving (someone's) storminess. It's an appealing tune, makes you want to sing it. And while the lyrics aren't unnecessarily tangled up with poetry... the texture of Delmhorst's voice gets a hold of the passion without histrionics... that is, through singing in the purest sense, not a display of singing. She handles the song the way a great actor does a great monologue, letting the material fully register in herself and show her the way to give it voice. And so she let's the song unfold toward its stormy closing instrumental burst in a way that feels organic.
"Come Home"
A song that could show up on a Gillian Welch album, here played simply with background rain effects, and sung with that remarkable voice. Listen to it on headphones to hear how Delmhorst keeps it simple and yet there's nothing simple in a voice working with a song's genre to capture its expressive range while staying true to its style.
"Wasted Word"
A sweet tune, about making the "wasted" past right in the lovely present. Pain has never looked so sweet, sincerely so, but you can't sing this song and make it believable unless you have a voice that can capture pain and beauty at once.
"Short Work"
A sort of country shuffle on betrayal and paying it back. Again, Delmhorst knows how to work within the song's shape to texture it musically but not interfere with the expressive potentials that it has as written.
"Mingalay"
An album that circles its hurricane theme throughout would not be complete without a traditional sailor's ballad... given a thoughtful update here through Delmhorst's final verse that complements the song's traditional look homeward from the sea with a look out to sea from those waiting on land. Played here with a bluesy sultriness, the song allows Delmhorst to handle the melody with a characteristic mix of aching tenderness and passion.
And again, you'll be torn between singing along and listening in rapt silence. To me, a singer who can cultivate precisely this conflict in the listener must be doing something right.
If you want to get a sense of just how remarkable the songwriting is here, do this: make a short playlist for yourself of
"East of the Mountains"
"Bobby Lee"
"Juice and June"
"Hurricane"
"Wasted Word"
"Mingalay"
and give this short set a listen. I defy you to find me a more beautiful set of songs on any recent recording, though each is different in style. But don't keep listening to this short set, go back to the full CD and listen to it all.
This is very, very good songwriting, musicianship, and, not least of all, singing. Spread the word, because this is an artist who deserves an appreciative audience.
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After the Hurricane - Songs for Montserrat
Various Manufacturer: Mobile Fidelity Soun ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B00000DWPI Release Date: 1990-02-01 |
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After the Hurricane - Songs for Montserrat
Various Artists Manufacturer: Capitol ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
ASIN: B000008CQG Release Date: 1989-11-15 |
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Frederick Rothberg and the Southern Crescent (Cassette)
Frederick Rothberg Manufacturer: Red Mountain Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Blues
| Styles
| Music
ASIN: B000CAFBO8 Release Date: 2004-08-03 |
Music Review:
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