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Lael Neale is a singer/songwriter from Virginia who makes a sort of minimal, lo-fi pop that seems very ancient and also timeless. The music is sparse, the instruments spread out over a wide sonic space and united by her voice.
One thing to know is that apparently Ms. Neale records her songs on a cassette deck. Now, i love cassettes aesthetically, but the format does have some limitations. Cassette's hiss -- there is a distinctive faint sound associated with listening to music on a cassette, and in our contemporary digital world that sound has been done away with. Well, it's all over this record because of how it was recorded -- when a song starts the first thing you hear is tape hiss, faint, and then the music starts.
To me, that sound is steeped in nostalgia for my teen years, driving around Cobb County, GA blaring new wave albums on cassettes, the tape hiss ignored, just a part of the background of life. I hear it here and it evokes a warm smile, but for other listeners it might be a source of annoyance. So be forewarned.
Aside from the sound of tape hiss, the music here consists of Neale's voice, the omnichord (a sort of synthesizer), a drum machine (which might come from the omnichord -- i am unfamiliar with the device, but it might have a rhythm function), and minimalist guitar courtesy of Guy Blakeslee, who also produced the record. It's a pretty simple formula, and yet Neale does so much with it.
I Am The River starts the album off with a simple beat, some keyboards, and her voice bopping along. She voice warbles, singing half the song in words and half "bah bah bahing", as the song happily moves along. This is insanely catchy, just a great pop tune.
Neale sings high and dramatic over the elegiac If I Had No Wings. She follows this with a minimalist synthpop tune called Faster Than The Medicine. Here, the guitar keeps a New Orderish melody, as keys drone and the drums chug simply. Her voice is very rich here: lush, up front, layered on top of the instruments. A pretty tune.
The next song is eight minutes long, which is kind of extreme for this type of pop music. The song is called In Verona, and the keyboard (omnichord?) sounds more piano-like as Neale sings lightly. At about 2 minutes in, the song sort of fades out for a moment, like it is ending on a swell of synths, but then a drum machine kicks in, a clicking beat and a faint thump, and the song moves on. It's a beautiful transition, i love how the beat comes in. After that, the whole thing is more forceful, her vocals more intense. This is a really interesting tune.
Neale reminds me off The Magnetic Fields on Must Be Tears. This is a happy little melody singing mopey vocals over see sawing synths and clattering percussion. She leaves Stephen Merrit and channels 1950s country pop on No Holds Barred. Her voice wavers and the guitar chimes in one layer, while another layer echoes faintly, western guitar style.
And then, why not, Neale gives us a 1970s folk song on Return To Me Now. Her voice sounds sweeter than usual, and there is a flute sounds (maybe from the omnichord?), a shaken beat, and strummed guitar. This fades into Lead Me Blind, a melancholy sort of tune of piano and tinkling guitar.
Overall i am impressed. Neale does a wide range of music here, and does it well. This is a very beautiful album of light pop.
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