Andriana
Lehr – Artifacts
Second
albums are, traditionally, a steep hump for many performers to get over. If
they’ve experienced significant critical success, like Andriana Lehr did with
her 2013 debut Try to Be True, the urge to follow the lead of that first album
with the sophomore effort is a powerful lure. It is, however, a dead end.
Entertainers want to entertain. Artists, however, who write and perform from a
much deeper need soon realize that successful artistic runs are not built on
the backs of repetition. Instead, the challenge is to grow, branch out, and
evolve without losing the initial spirit that fired your career and passion.
Andriana Lehr fills this mission out quite handily with her second album
Artifacts. It’s a well crafted and deeply felt sophomore release that finds her
musical adventurousness at a higher level than ever before, but it shows a
command of technique that outstrips even her fine first release.
“Outrun
the Change” gives us a clear idea of where her head space is with these songs.
Undoubtedly, the numerous years that have passed since Lehr left her South
Dakota farm for the bright lights and boundless promise of the big city, in
this case the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metroplex, have provided her with numerous
examples of how our connections in life change and fall away no matter how much
we might value them. The vocal melody here is simply gorgeous and brings the
lyrics to listeners in a very attention grabbing fashion. There’s an urgency
here that’s quite appealing. Other songs find this urgency as well, albeit in
different ways. “Ready to Be” has an understated, just below the surface level
stream of frustration and regret about the challenges of establishing one’s
individuality in a culture that seems to undercut it and honest communication
at every turn, but the message likewise stresses the necessity of our efforts
if we want to experience self-realization. “Ashes in the Fog” is a much more
muted affair both musically and lyrical with a poetic veneer that many will
enjoy. Ken Wilson’s pedal steel guitar is a wonderful addition to this track
and takes it in the direction of pure classic country without ever confining
itself to genre.
“Bright
Yellow Lights” is another impressive stylistic turn. In this song, Lehr makes
great use of tenor sax to bring another unusual instrumental voice into what
most will likely hear as an Americana performer. The reverb effects on the lead
guitar work also provide another semi-unusual sonic element. There’s a lot of
pain and thoughtfulness laced through this particular track and much of that
bubbles to the surface thanks to these imaginative choices and her fine vocal.
“Halfway Home” takes the album a little into neo-classical territory with its
use of a string quartet and Lehr’s piano playing, but it’s a very theatrical
piece that still keeps a strong connection to simplicity and certainly has
atmosphere to burn. The album’s second to last song, “Streets of Saint Paul”,
has some of the same hints of classical flavor bleeding in around the edges,
but this is much more of a straight-autobiographical track that Lehr wisely
chooses to keep as uncluttered as possible. Artifacts is one of the most well
thought out releases coming from the singer/songwriter genre in recent memory
and promises much for Lehr’s future.
9
out of 10 stars
Dale
Butcher
No comments:
Post a Comment