Apr. 20, 2011 - Issue #809: Great Outdoors
Castlemusic
CastlemusicJennifer Castle {recordings_bands_mg} Castlemusic {/recordings_bands_mg}
Flemish Eye, 2011
4
Jennifer Castle has a voice like cold smoke. A bluesy chanteuse who sings with such icy heart that you can feel your marrow quiver, she dresses her folk arrangements down to a fittingly skeletal state. Castlemusic makes a satisfying blend of traditional stylings and sparser arrangements, yet its nine songs don't make up a downer of an album. Opener "Summer" has feedback guitars gently oscillating beneath her lightly husked voice; "Neverride" is a quiet, beautiful ode to joy, replete with a beautiful slide-guitar refrain to end on. "Powers" is a heady spirit-quest of a song wherin she croons some bong-ready vision lines, and even more uppity is the stuttered guitar wash of "Poor Man," which flirts with barroom alt-country. So, while Castlemusic feels like inner reflections from a fortress of solitude, that pristine, crystallized introspection carries the heavy sentiment of isolation while still keeping its head held high. It's the sounds of someone looking deep inside and smiling.
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