Album Review: Rebecca Martin | She by Seth Rogovoy (Chronogram)
(Sunnyside Records)
The headline of a New York Times review of a 2011 Rebecca Martin club gig reads: “Spare Vocals Illuminate Emotions Underneath.” That’s still an apt-and-accurate description of Martin’s aesthetic, especially as it’s heard on She, the first full album of original songs she’s released in a dozen years. Martin’s purity of approach is remarkably intimate and vulnerable. These folk- and jazz-influenced art songs are arranged for solo voice and acoustic guitar. Sometimes Martin’s vocals are multitracked, allowing her to harmonize with herself. The sum effect forefronts Martin’s sophisticated melodicism and her ethereal vocals, almost dissolving any questions about genre.
The fifty-something Maine native has worked as a chef, an MTV production manager, and a land preservationist. Now based in Kingston, Martin recorded the bulk of the album in Portugal, with additional recording handled by Scott Petito in Catskill. Martin’s songs are often populated by balancing acts. People literally fall in several of her tunes. About one character, she says, “I guess one foot on the ground will simply have to do.” Unspoken or vague allusions to darkness, trouble, brokenness, of the physical and emotional kind, are often subtly implied. In the kickoff track, “Play for Me,” Martin sings, “Music is for anyone who’s open to hear / There’s nothing between us but notes in the air.” The beauty of She is found in that air. – Seth Rogovoy
