Lucy Wainwright-Roche - There's A Last Time For Everything

Lucy Wainwright-Roche - There's A Last Time For Everything
2013, 1-2-3-4-Go!

 

Lucy Wainwright-Roche’s family line shouldn’t be strange to anyone.  The daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Suzzy Roche (The Roches), Lucy’s family also includes aunts Maggie and Terre Roche, Sloan Wainwright, and half-siblings Rufus and Martha Wainwright.  Although Lucy started late in the family business of music (she was originally a school teacher in New York City); she is quickly establishing herself as one of the most talented songwriters of the clan. Her 2011 album Lucy showed an artist capable of taking everyday moments and emotions and turning them into works of utter beauty.  On her recently released follow-up album, There’s A Last Time For Everything, Wainwright-Roche picks up right where she left off.

 

Wainwright-Roche opens with "This Year Will End Again", placing things like success and failure in the light of the cycle of the year. This philosophical exposition is laid bare on the stones of an utterly beautiful, string-laden arrangement.  The listener is caught up in the slow and inexorable build of beauty and meaning. "Seek & Hide" is an exploration of expectations versus reality in light of falling in love. Wainwright-Roche looks at her life through the eyes of an academic philosopher, generating questions more than answers. "Last Time" seeks to mark out the space between never was and always will be when it comes to relationships. It's hard not be blown away by the subtle yet powerful imagery Wainwright-Roche conjures here. The deep arrangements and her singular, lovely voice are additional layers that please the ear, but the songwriting is the thing that drives this experience. 

 

"Monte Rosa Range" reflects on a non-distinct memory that seems more a pastiche of time than a singular moment. Consider this a still life with moving parts, and consider Lucy Wainwright-Roche a master painter. "Look Busy" is a musical monologue of a friend consoling another in the face of loss. There is a sense of mixed emotions here where friendship and love may intermix, but our protagonist is keeping a careful distance for now. "Canterbury Song" has a quiet energy that is impossible to ignore. There is a love song in here somewhere, but it is buried in a momentary reflection on the past, stories and sparks. All the while, Wainwright-Roche paints with instruments, words and voice a gorgeous tableau. 

 

"Call Your Girlfriend" is a plaintive suggestion to end a love triangle by one of the points of that triangle. There's a plain spoken honesty here that's compelling, whatever your thoughts on the subject. Wainwright-Roche turns an awkward transition into a moving monologue that could be the centerpiece of an off-Broadway musical. "A Quiet Line" has one of the most unutterably beautiful choruses you'll ever hear, and tracks the history and questions of love in a gentle but vibrant waltz. "The Same" mulls cycles once again, and inability to change amidst the changes that occur around us.  "Take What You're Given" is another monologue that contrasts childhood reflections, complicated thoughts and a quiet hope for redemption. Wainwright-Roche creates gorgeous images with her words; compelling images that haunt your thoughts long after the music has fallen away. There's A Last Time For Everything closes with "Under The Gun", a relationship post mortem built on half truths and misunderstandings. Wainwright-Roche plucks beauty out if heartache like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, and sings it in tones of nascent confidence. 

 

Lucy Wainwright-Roche offers up a magical listening experience on There’s A Last Time For Everything.  Spinning musical webs around highly personal tales of love, loss and the inevitability of change, Wainwright-Roche bares her soul and psyche in subtly unrelenting fashion.  The power of her songwriting comes from simple truths buried in the lines, and the power of the music comes from the little touches; rhythms, counter-rhythms, sounds that seem extraneous but aren’t… the attention to detail on this album is mind-boggling, and every sound, note and rhythm is perfectly placed.  But what’s more, Lucy Wainwright-Roche sells each story without drama and without cliché; she simply tells it like it is in wonderfully poetic and flowing muse.  There’s A Last Time For Everything is a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc, but even that might not tell you how good it is.  This is one of those rare heirloom albums that you will carry with you for a lifetime.

 

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

 

Learn more at www.lucywainwrightroche.com. 

 

Sloan Wainwright - Upside Down & Under My Heart

Sloan Wainwright - Upside Down & Under My Heart
2011, Derby Disc

In the beginning, God created Loudon Wainwright, III, and it was good. Later came Rufus and Martha, and then Lucy Wainwright-Roche, and all was well for a new generation. Yet quietly, in the midst of all this musical creation, another Wainwright voice emerged. Forged of earth and sky, the deep contralto of Sloan Wainwright arose from the earth. Many stopped and stared in surprise at this unknown commodity, hewn more from the classical bedrock of folk music than any of her extended family. Now, six albums and many accolades on, Sloan Wainwright continues as the quiet musical bedrock that serves as the contrast for a wildly talented and creative family. 2011 saw the release of Sloan Wainwright's sixth album, Upside Down & Under My Heart, chronicles the aftermath of the death of her husband George, and noble effort of a human heart to overcome, heal and begin anew.

Presence is a gift in an artist. It cannot be learned or taught, but the natural talent can be developed in one so endowed. Sloan Wainwright's presence on Upside Down & Under My Heart is preternatural, carrying a sense of spirit and truth that is compelling. Without artifice or affectation, Wainwright bears her heart in ten original songs that cut to the meat of human suffering, healing and survival. "Live Out The Best Of Your Life" is a mantra, of sorts, a challenge to wake up each day, put your feet on the floor and go on. Simple in sentiment and deep in meaning, it's the perfect opener, delivered in Wainwright's clear, natural voice. "Upside Down & Under My Heart" is a sweet country ballad written from an expectant mother to her unborn child. The almost melancholy arrangement is in counterpoint to the peaceful, loving words that pass from one to the other, in a moment of beauty so simple it shines. "Here I Am" plays like a song of becoming; of growing up, or of emerging from darkness into a new sense of self. Once again, Wainwright eschews fancy dress for simple truth, allowing the emerging beauty of the human heart striving to be itself shine through.

"I Can See Now" is a simple declaration; a matter of fact, beautiful poetic statement of account of one, again, emerging from darkness. Similarly, "My Song" is about establishing yourself once again. In the context of the album, it can be seen as re-claiming the sense of self that was shared for so long and then torn asunder. In this moment, Wainwright finds healing, even as the pain of loss continues to abate but slowly. "I Wear The Ring" plays in many layers, sounding at first like an expectant bride, but perhaps a node to the past rather than the future. The allegory of the road will not be lost on those who make their living from music, although here the road is more mystical than real. "Holland" represents a sense of moving on, finding the power to begin again amidst new scenery. The story is told alongside a stunning melody, simple in its beauty yet weighty in its power. "Little Bit Right" explores the struggle to feel okay about feeling okay, and Wainwright concludes with "I Am Free", a gone-but-not-forgotten anthem that declares health and happiness in the gift of the time left.

In many ways, Sloan Wainwright comes full circle on Upside Down & Under My Heart. What doesn't change throughout the album is the simple power of lyrics, and the utter beauty of the melodies she pares them with. Wainwright builds simple parts into sublime creations while exploring the depths of human pain and recovery without malice or spite; a refreshing approach on modern music, popular or otherwise. Upside Down & Under My Heart is too mature to be truly popular, unfortunately, but it is a wondrous work that deserves to remembered and recognized when the year-end lists come around.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Sloan Wainwright at www.sloanwainwright.com.

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Lucy Wainwright-Roche - Lucy

Lucy Wainwright-Roche - Lucy

2010, Lucy Wainwright-Roche

Lucy Wainwright-Roche comes with quite a pedigree.  Her father, Loudon Wainwright III is something of a legend, and her mother Suzzy Roche was one-third of the sisters folk group The Roches.  Lucy is half-sister to Rufus and Martha Wainwright, each accomplished singer/songwriters, and Sloan Wainwright and David Roche all have their own branches on the family tree.  Perhaps the most surprising thing about Lucy Wainwright-Roche is the fact that she didn't plan on a career in music.  Wainwright-Roche got her Master's Degree in education in 2006 and spent some time teaching elementary school in New York City.  By 2007 the family vocation was exerting too insistent a pull, and Wainwright-Roche decided to pursue music full time.  Three independent EPs later, Wainwright-Roche has won the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival's Emerging Artist Competition (2008), the Grassy Hill Kerrville Folk Festival's "New Folk Singer/Songwriter Competition", and a 2008 Independent Music Award for Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song ("Snare Drum").  On October 26, 2010, Lucy Wainwright-Roche releases her first full-length album, Lucy.

Lucy opens with "Once In", a metronomic and stilted series of recollections that have an almost stream of consciousness feel to them.  You might have a hard time following her train of thought here, but Wainwright-Roche's voice makes everything alright; a sweet soprano that soars in airy undertones and lights perfectly on each note and word.  "Open Season" explores loss through memories of what has been and speculation of what might be.  It doesn't take long to realize that what you're hearing is far above and beyond the call of your typical folk singer/songwriter.  Wainwright-Roche isn't a strict storyteller, no.  She's more of a musical impressionist, mixing emotions, moments, people and events into a musical milieu where shading, texture and sound tell the story, while Wainwright-Roche's thoughts and apt attention to detail move the story along. 

"Early Train" explores the opposing dreams that sometimes tear a relationship apart or keep it happening from all.  The melody Wainwright-Roche has constructed is masterful, and her lyric touch is subtle and refined but misses no minute detail of the moment she's describing.  "The Worst Part" is a heart-to-heart monologue written to someone who's broken her heart.  Wainwright-Roche delivers an honest diagnosis of the relationship that's not so much about blame as it is facts, and then admits that the love has never gone.  There's a vulnerability and honesty here that's palpable, and it's nearly impossible not to empathize and like the singer/songwriter in this moment.  "October" celebrates a moment on the relationship timeline, the zenith of the relationship "we're happy as we're ever going to be".  It's a light and breezy moment brushed with the intangible knowing of reminiscence and features special guests the Indigo Girls.

"I-35" is a musical oil painting where Wainwright-Roche's impressionist tendencies come to full fruition.  The song is presented as more of an open-ended question than a story, but the spaces in between are filled with pure beauty in the arrangement and Wainwright-Roche's nearly carefree vocal wanderings.  "Accident & Emergency" is a straight-forward reflection of one incident involving a loved one.  It's here that you'll see the pure magic in Wainwright-Roche's songwriting.  "Accident & Emergency" takes a banal moment; one that would not ordinarily memorialized in song, and turns it into a beautiful and moving experience.  If Wainwright-Roche has achieved one pure moment as an artist, it's here, where she serves as a perfect mirror for the world around her while painting it in an affectionate pastiche.

All of that being said, "Mercury News" is the best pure songwriting on Lucy, with Wainwright-Roche showing a delicious pop sensibility in a song about a secret relationship "meet me by the water / someone's wife and someone's daughter / none of these will be my name today").  Everything works on this song, from the pop hook, the country-tinged arrangement or the picture-perfect lyrics.  On "Starting Square" Wainwright-Roche turns impressionistic again in a relationship song that explores the angst of second meetings.  This sets the listener up for Wainwright-Roche's vocal knockout, a lyric cover of Paul Simon's "America".  It's here that listeners are treated to the sweet, soaring soprano voice of Lucy Wainwright-Roche in its airy, flowing beauty.  Simon fans will love what she does with the song, which is reverent to the original but shines with Wainwright-Roche's personality.  Lucy closes with Elliot Smith’s "Say Yes", a duet with ­­­­Ira Glass that is well done but seems very out of character with the rest of the album.  "Say Yes" is a post-break-up song that sounds like it may have been cut live-in-studio with little in the way of touch-ups.  As such it proves Wainwright's voice to be as beautiful and sweet as it sounds on the rest of the album, while Glass essentially serves as a vocal foil.

The prodigal child often seems like the most welcome.  Lucy Wainwright-Roche's divergence from the family path was brief, luckily for us.  Wainwright-Roche's subtlety and panache are matched by her ability to craft impressionist scenes made from musical notes and words.  On Lucy, Wainwright-Roche takes everyday moments and emotions and turns them into works of utter beauty.  Lucy may seem somewhat mundane on first listen, but the album grows about you and sucks you in.  Lucy Wainwright-Roche has created a quiet masterpiece.  Lucy is a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc.  Don’t miss it.

 Lucy drops on October 26, 2010.  You can pre-order downloads from Amazon.com.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Lucy Wainwright-Roche at http://www.lucywainwrightroche.com/,  www.myspace.com/lwrlwr or lucywr.blogspot.com. 

Artist Of The Month: Jenn Grant (September, 2009)

Too see and hear Jenn Grant these days, you’d never guess she gave up performing as a teenage due to horrible stage fright. The Prince Edward Island native and Halifax, Nova Scotia resident has carved out a niche for herself as one of the most intimate modern Folk/Rock artists in Canada. With an entrancing voice that can run from lyric to edgy in the same breath, Grant can hold a crowd spellbound as she bares her soul in song. These qualities have earned her rave reviews across her native Canada for both 2007’s Orchestra For The Moon and her latest album, Echoes. After hearing Echoes, there was no doubt who would be Wildy’s World’s Artist Of The Month for September, 2009.

Grant’s talents have earned her touring/opening slots with The Rheostatics’ Martini Tielli, The Weakerthans, Great Lakes Swimmers, Hawksley Workman and Hayden, among others. Her songs are full of melancholy emotion and honest words, as stark as a diary entry and twice as honest. Grant’s music is performance and catharsis all woven into one. Over the course of the month we’ll try to give you the opportunity to get to know a bit more about Jenn Grant. Take the time; there’s really no one else like her in popular music.

You can learn more about Jenn Grant at http://www.jenngrant.com/ or www.myspace.com/jenngrant1. And don't forget to check out our review of Echoes, one of the most intriguing releases of 2009 to date!