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(2022) Erin Rae - Lighten Up
Review:
Over the years, music has provided us with lots of strange pairings, from Louis Jordan’s jump blues reminding us about the gustatory pleasures of “Beans and Cornbread”, to Frank Sinatra telling us about “Love and Marriage” going together like a “horse and carriage” long after that manner of transportation was outmoded, to Rufus Wainwright sophisticatedly crooning about “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”. Nashville singer-songwriter Erin Rae has come up with another odd coupling on her latest album, Lighten Up. Rae offers a slightly psychedelic tribute to cooking “Curry and Candy” as a metaphor for keeping an open mind and appreciating life for the sake of the spectacle. The world is a strange place, and Rae knows that’s even truer for a person on her own. She sings about how everything is different as one goes through changes: from living in the city to heading out to the wilderness, from being in love with a long-time partner to breaking up and being left to one’s own devices, from chasing the demons out of our heart and soul to finding spiritual healing. These dualities pervade the material on her latest album, which takes its title from a song (“Lighten Up and Try”) that contains yet another peculiar pairing. Rae constructs her songs like Möbius strips that show the unity of the dissimilar sides. There is a cosmic, existential connection between everything. Jonathan Wilson’s (Father John Misty) production and instrumentation highlight what might seem mundane into something more magical. Rae supplies vocals and acoustic guitar, while Wilson surrounds her with harmoniums, harpsichords, mellotrons, and such. Other players contribute pedal steel, vibraphone, bowed bass, Wurlitzer, clavinet, and instruments with distinctive sounds. The mishmash creates a decorative delight rather than cacophony, from the old-fashioned string arrangements on “Cosmic Sigh” to the more contemporary electric guitar licks that adorn the melody of “True Love’s Face”. The result reveals the patterns inherent in what we see, say, and do. When Rae writes about the “Modern Woman”, her narrative shows us that a “modern” person has always existed but not usually recognized before. She acknowledges the “Enemy” in herself as part of who she really is and understands that’s not necessarily a bad thing. When Rae goes out at night, she “Can’t See Stars” because of light pollution until she heads to the country, where she listens to the murmur of a thousand voices but can’t hear her own. Rae is alienated from herself, making her estrangement part of her essential being. This type of paradoxical consciousness used to be commonly referred to as acid logic. What keeps Rae from freaking out is understanding the world from a deeper place. Rae states this clearly. She sings, “The mind is fucked / But the heart is pure” on “Mind/Heart”. Compassion and empathy make us better people. Overthinking can make everything worse. That doesn’t mean one has to be stupid to be happy. One has to think feelingly. That’s analogous to the Zen-like instruction of the title song, which asks us to try harder by not trying (or lightening up). One has to live with the dualities that comprise life with other people and the larger world and accept that we are all part of the same reality. The world is one. Once we discover that, we can find ourselves and like Rae, make our own music.
Track Listing:
1.Candy & Curry 03:33
2.Can't See Stars (feat. Kevin Morby) 03:36
3.True Love's Face 03:20
4.Gonna Be Strange 03:19
5.California Belongs To You 03:37
6.Cosmic Sigh 03:40
7.Modern Woman 03:24
8.Drift Away 03:40
9.Enemy 03:42
10.Mind/Heart 03:51
11.Lighten Up and Try 03:06
12.Undone 02:46
Media Report:
Genre: americana, indie-folk
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
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