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Kris Delmhorst
Shotgun Singer
(Signature Sounds)
First Appeared in The Music Box, April 2008, Volume 15, #4
Written by John Metzger
Mon April 21, 2008, 06:45 PM CDT
Although her songs sound nothing like those of Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, the
way in which Kris Delmhorst has turned her cerebral concepts into emotionally
palpable excursions makes such comparisons particularly apt. In a striking
testament to her talent, Delmhorst built her 2006 outing Strange Conversation
around the works of an array of well-known poets. Boldly adapting familiar
scripts to suit her own purpose, Delmhorst then set them to music. Rather than
feeling stuffy and forced, the endeavor was a surprisingly transfixing album.
On her latest effort Shotgun Singer, Delmhorst largely leaves the
academic constructs of her previous work behind, and her shift in direction is
immediately apparent in both her lyrics and the soundscapes that surround them.
Although the words that she carefully has stitched together continue to ruminate
poetically upon love and life, there is a vagueness about them that leaves their
interpretation open and fluid. The moods that emanate from her music further
obscure the emotional frames of reference from which she sings her songs, and
the end result frequently waltzes through the shadowy realm where light and dark
meet.
Shotgun Singer is this year’s second major folk outing to be birthed in
solitary confinement. The first of these, of course, was Patty Larkin’s Watch
the Sky. Both of these albums are washed in atmospheric textures that bend
and fold around the lyrics, muddling the meaning that lurks behind the feelings
that are expressed. With help from fellow songwriters Peter Mulvey, Erin McKeown,
and her husband Jeffrey Foucault; producer Sam Kassirer, an associate of Josh
Ritter; and Barry Rothman’s eerie record samples, Delmhorst moves from the
ethereal wispiness of Blue Adeline to the tribal sensuality of Heavens
Hold the Sun, and from the ominous requiem If Not for Love to
Riverwide’s apocalyptic baptism without ever seeming to skip a beat.
As her work has evolved, Delmhorst has become a favorite among music fans who
like to be challenged as well as entertained. Much like Songs for a Hurricane
and Strange Conversation, the outings that preceded it, Shotgun Singer
will do both.  ½
Shotgun Singer is available from Amazon.com.
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2008 The Music Box
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