Marissa Nadler - The Saga Of Mayflower May

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 23 / 7 / 2005

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Review

If I didn’t know this was a contemporary release, I would have sworn it was a reissue from the late-1960's, a hidden gem that would probably have sounded out of time even then. In fact, Marissa Nadler is a new artist, and this is her second album. Some may dismiss her delicate, fingerpicked folk music as retro, but I prefer to call it timeless. Marissa Nadler is an artist of more than one discipline, and when she isn’t singing, she produces fine art - paintings, light boxes and woodwork. This dedication to craft, rather than the pursuit of fame is certainly part of her appeal. I’m a sucker for fingerpicked guitar, and this album has it on every song. Nadler, too, has a beautiful voice to go on top. So, this is a good album and one I say is worth buying. One song in particular, 'Old Love Haunts Me In The Morning', I have wanted to play over and over. It isn’t a particularly complicated song and the lyrical themes are tried and tested (nothing wrong with that, mind), but it has a gorgeous piano part, played by Nick Castro, just below the vocal in the mix, a bouncy tune that sounds difficult to play but easy to hum. On Azure Ray’s last album there is a song, called 'Nothing Like A Song', with a similar piano part and it isn’t a coincidence that I wanted to hear that song all day, just like this one. Now, I mentioned earlier that this album could have been recorded in the 60's, and there is a part of me that wishes it was. Lovely as this album is to listen to, it is a little one paced, and whilst the fingerpicked guitar is nice, she repeats her tricks slightly too often. These are common faults of the small scale artist, and won’t stop me liking this album. I just wish that someone like Joe Boyd has spotted her potential, which she really does have, and put her together with the modern day equivalents of Richard and Danny Thompson. The production is sound, and creates a pleasant atmosphere, but a slightly more lavish approach may suit this singer, whose music’s only fault is perhaps being too one dimensional (it is no surprise that my favourite song has an extra instrument). Nevertheless, an album I’ve enjoyed owning.

Track Listing:-

1 Under An Old Umbrella
2 The Little Famous Song
3 Mr. John Lee (Velveteen Rose)
4 Damsels In The Dark
5 Lily, Henry, And The Willow Trees
6 Yellow Lights
7 Old Love Haunts Me In The Morning
8 My Little Lark
9 In The Time Of The Lorry Low
10 Calico
11 Horses And Their Kin