The former Mazzy Star frontwoman presents three gentle tracks where her mature, reserved delivery gets tangled in threads of childlike whimsy. Even in Hope Sandoval’s early work with Mazzy Star, the singer, then in her twenties, did not give off an air of youthfulness. Her vocal on “Fade Into You”—the 1993 track that marked the band’s one and only foray into Hot 100 territory—sounded vaguely anesthetized; it’s the voice of a woman who’s seen plenty and knows better than to pour more feeling into the world than it could possibly give to her in return. Over the years, that world-weariness was stitched into Sandoval’s assorted recording projects, including a handful of releases with her band, the Warm Inventions, and Mazzy Star’s comeback, 2013’s Seasons of Your Day. Sandoval’s latest release with her band, Son of a Lady, comprises three gentle tracks where her mature, reserved delivery gets tangled in threads of childlike whimsy.
The EP opens with a lullaby. Nursery-style word repetition and simple rhyme are the building blocks of “Sleep,” and when the first ping of glockenspiel—that old classroom favorite—hits, you almost start to wonder when the children’s chorus will join in. The lyrics tucked in between refrains of “Sleep, sleep” and “Weep, weep,” though, are more unsettling than pacifying, and Sandoval’s suggestion to sleep “until you feel desire” or “until you don’t feel alone” posits sleep as a cure-all for depressive tendencies. Above the strum of an acoustic guitar, she seems to long for the time when sleep was a routine activity celebrated in song, not a necessary refuge from the disappointments of the waking world.
The former Mazzy Star frontwoman presents three gentle tracks where her mature, reserved delivery gets tangled in threads of childlike whimsy.
ResponderEliminarEven in Hope Sandoval’s early work with Mazzy Star, the singer, then in her twenties, did not give off an air of youthfulness. Her vocal on “Fade Into You”—the 1993 track that marked the band’s one and only foray into Hot 100 territory—sounded vaguely anesthetized; it’s the voice of a woman who’s seen plenty and knows better than to pour more feeling into the world than it could possibly give to her in return. Over the years, that world-weariness was stitched into Sandoval’s assorted recording projects, including a handful of releases with her band, the Warm Inventions, and Mazzy Star’s comeback, 2013’s Seasons of Your Day. Sandoval’s latest release with her band, Son of a Lady, comprises three gentle tracks where her mature, reserved delivery gets tangled in threads of childlike whimsy.
The EP opens with a lullaby. Nursery-style word repetition and simple rhyme are the building blocks of “Sleep,” and when the first ping of glockenspiel—that old classroom favorite—hits, you almost start to wonder when the children’s chorus will join in. The lyrics tucked in between refrains of “Sleep, sleep” and “Weep, weep,” though, are more unsettling than pacifying, and Sandoval’s suggestion to sleep “until you feel desire” or “until you don’t feel alone” posits sleep as a cure-all for depressive tendencies. Above the strum of an acoustic guitar, she seems to long for the time when sleep was a routine activity celebrated in song, not a necessary refuge from the disappointments of the waking world.