release date: May 12, 2008
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Brad Albetta; Martin Terefe
label: Cooperative Music - nationality: Canada
Track highlights: 1. "Bleeding All Over You" (4 / 5) - 2. "You Cheated Me" (4,5 / 5) - 4. "Comin' Tonight" (4 / 5) (live) - 6. "Hearts Club Band" (live) - 9. "The George Song" - 11. "Jimi" (live)
2nd studio album by Martha Wainwright follows three years after her self-titled full-length debut from 2005. The album is mainly produced by her husband Brad Albetta, who is behind six of the album's thirteen tracks - he and Martha married in 2007. Martin Terefe has produced four tracks, and in addition Tore Johansson has produced two, and Kate McGarrigle is the producer a single track. Jeff Trott is co-producer on one, and the duo Ger McDonnell and Mike Hedges are also credited as co-producers on one track.
The music is folk and singer / songwriter, but the album here is cut significantly more like a contemporary folk pop album with stress on pop. The compositions are written by Wainwright, and a single track "Jimi" is taken from the '99 ep Martha Wainwright, but here in a rearranged version. Where the debut was stylistically in keeping with an American folk tradition, this one shows a new side to Martha Wainwright stepping more in the direction of brother Rufus Wainswright's more contemporary folk pop and chamber pop releases with distance to father, Loudon Wainwright III and mother Kate McGarrigle's tradition of more simple and guitar-based folk.
The album was my first encounter with Martha's music, and I first adored the fine and much played "You Cheated Me" on the radio without having in any way cultivated other tracks from the album. When I finally listened to the whole album, it was a rather positive experience, and my first thoughts were that it was a good album with several fine tracks. At first it was the first two tracks that stood out the strongest, but gradually I listened more attentively to other tracks, and then it was one of those rare occasions when it dawns on you that you have come across a jewel. And yes, she could be inspired by a certain Polly Jean Harvey, and I had the same experience when I discovered her album Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea (2000). Likewise, this is one of those albums that just seems to grow as you listen to it. It's a bit magical when you listen to these kinds of releases that come so rare. You stumble upon one or two tracks and after a while it's as if other tracks rise up, as if with a raised finger saying : "Hey there, I'm also here, Okay!", and finally, you end up loving the whole package.
The album garnered positive reviews and became Martha Wainwright's commercial breakthrough with a top-10 position at No. #6 on the Canadian Albums Chart, and it generally performed well in several other countries worldwide. Having released two more studio albums through 2018, this one remains her best-selling album.
However, my enthusiasm for the album cooled a little over time. I still consider it better than good, but after a while it sort of lost my interest - as less impressive. Perhaps there is too much of the same going on here - musically and lyrically. In a way, it's a bit the same way I've experienced albums by brother Rufus. When you haven't lsitened to any of them, it's easy to be impressed by that brilliant control over your own voice register they both possess and after some time you (perhaps) discover how little progression the musical universe offers. Make no mistake, I still like both of their music, and especially this very album! I just ended up where it has to be taken in smaller doses. It's still a highly recommendable album. And if you haven't been there: do yourself a favour and check this one out!
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone, The Observer, The Guardian 4 / 5 stars ]
