Album Club Selection #8: Emily Barker - A Dark Murmuration of Words

Hey @Bosstralian , if you can do one of these I’m confident you won’t be disappointed.

Really enjoyable trip to Stroud last night. I’m no big poetry reader, but some interesting insights into the process. Very impressed with a couple of poems by Adam Horowitz, who co-presented.

Finished with a short 5 song set, including The Woman Who Planted Trees and Machine: latter in its stripped back claps, finger clicks and double bass form. Class. Good news is a new record is well advanced and should be back here touring next summer. 🤞it doesn’t clash with that other fellas jaunt.

Just picked up a ticket for EB‘s last U.K. show (for the foreseeable). Short set as part of the opening night of the Stroud Book Festival.

If you enjoyed the studio album I suggest you give this a try………

Pleased to hear you’re enjoying it Scott. If you’re ready to be heartbroken give ‘No.5 Hurricane’, a listen. From the ‘Sweet Kind Of Blue‘ album, but there’s also an excellent solo recording available too.

Never even heard of Emily Barker, much less heard her music. But I'm halfway through and utterly enchanted. As others said, she's got a certain Nick Drake vibe, but with the occasional chord change that feels more Joni Mitchell than Drake. And while her vocals can get more assertive than Drake ever seemed to, she's got a certain whispery, mysterious quality that harkens back to him--and for me, that's nothing but wonderful.

I'm absolutely loving this, and so glad you introduced her to me.

Even more reason to love Emily Barker. I’ve asked her to put a couple of signed bags to one side for me at the Stroud show this Saturday. You doing anything Saturday night @whispered secret ? Ridiculously, considering its a(n adopted) home-town gig, there are still tickets available. Treat Mr J!

I think I could fall in love with this album/artist but life's a tad hectic just now and the scope for leisurely listening just isn't there.

I'd like to sit down and imbibe this uninterrupted, undisturbed with a glass of something.........opportunity has not yet arisen.

I've been occupied lately writing my Springsteen 2016 reviews, so haven't been able to properly play this, or the Killers album. Sorry about that. I'll make sure I get both listened to this week, I think I need to because I believe I'm up next week?

This is not a critique, I believe it's the opposite... And it"s probably me, my listening habits or caprice, but some musicians are only digestible in small doses. I think the reason is intensity, which can be of different sorts.

They demand a pause and a deep breath after an album is finished. She is one of them.

Need to find my ‘phones and Mojo amp to play music off my iPhone. All this talk about the record is killing me. No immediate prospect of getting the full hi-fi rig up and running…… That 4 track covers ep came out as an early RSD release, 2013 or 14 I think. Tracked down a mint copy eventually, but they seem to be pretty thin on the ground. Black discs sound so much nicer!

Was listening to Shadow Box yesterday. She covers one of my favourite Tom Waits songs.

For those unfamiliar with the brilliant, spine tingling original:

The guitar melody on Strange Weather reminds me very much of Steve Earle's Ft. Worth Blues.

It's tough for me to pluck a few favorites from this album, because I love it as a whole from first track to last.

I would put The Woman Who Planted Trees, Machine and Strange Weather on a playlist if I could only choose three songs.

I’m really pleased you guys are enjoying this, whether for the 1st time or on a return visit. It‘s a record that, for me, acknowledges its roots in folk, addresses themes of belonging, home and identity, and is unafraid to place these in the context of wider environmental and political concerns that are very much of the moment.

Fabulous vocal performances, sparse but effective instrumentation and superb songwriting throughout. The recording is immaculate too, close-miked and intimate, which suits the material to a ‘t’. (Does anyone else get a buzz from something as simple as the drawing of a deep breath before Return Me begins?) Vinyl pressing by Optimal is spot-on too.

Tough to pick out a favourite track, as the quality is so consistently high. Sonogram intrigues and puzzles by turn, Geography perhaps, but probably the outlier musically: Machine. Perhaps that’s why I am drawn back to it - it is so at odds within its setting which only serves to make it all the more powerful. The 3 version ep of this song is an essential companion, as Steve suggests. First gig after C19 restrictions started to lift was EB & her husband Lucas Drinkwater in a tiny hall in Newbury. Couldn’t have been more than 50 folks there and it was outstanding. Drew heavily on this record, with a sprinkling of earlier material. If you’ve enjoyed it and you have a chance to catch a live show please don’t pass it by.

Anyone seen @Bosstralian recently? I’m curious as to how well known EB is in her native Oz.

There is an EP of the track Machine which includes an alternate version and a solo acapella version that is pretty damn brilliant.

I discovered Emily Barker searching for female Bruce covers on Spotify a while ago. I didn't listen to any specific album at the time, I took the practical shortcut. I listened to a medley of her songs, the introductory playlist, so Murmuration was my first.

This album is such gorgeous music, she has a beautiful piercing, eerie voice. The lyrics are outstanding. It's so good Machine is on the album to wake you up from the dreamy, meditative state other songs undoubtedly push you into. Strange Weather is the song I love the most, I think. Thanks, @Walkerinthesun she is fantastic.

An interesting thing happened while listening to her music this weekend, but it's a surprise. I will tell you all about it when it's my turn to suggest the next album. Life's little mysteries...

This is the kind of album that I really can dig into - and it's not a genre thing. There are artists across most genres that I consider brilliant poets and Emily Barker is one of them. I knew her music some, but this is the album that solidified my admiration for her art. A timeless record and a fantastic campfire listen, even without a campfire. Her voice is like a syrup that's sometimes bitter, but often sweet, the kind of voice that could belong to any generation of music.

Touching back on @Walkerinthesun's great post above, this is worth a play...

We’re in the new house and I’ve sat down with a coffee to take a break from the chaos of unpacking!

I know our move has got in the way of my listening over the last month, so haven’t had the time to really get into the previous selections as much as I would have liked to - apologies for that, I’ll get there!

However when I reviewed earlier submissions I was struck by there being little or nothing recent. So, are there no truly great records being made these days? I think there are, but perhaps many on here are of a ‘certain age’, and have an inclination to look back to remembered golden times. Have those tendencies myself, but those stone cold future classics are still coming, and I suggest this is one.

As noted above, a female vocalist too, tho’ dunno if we should read too much into that at this point. I certainly have a long standing love of female singers, from mid-period Joni when I was in my mid teens thru the rawk‘n’rolling Chrissie Hynde and sixties Spector girl groups, the genre defining Lu Williams (who I adore, and yes, Sarah knows and understands!), to the provider of this selection, Emily Barker. I‘m a relatively recent admirer of her music and, yes, there is a Bruce connection. A few years ago I was talking music with a work friend and occasional mtb riding buddy. He suggested I check out Frank Turner, which I did; enjoyable enough but didn’t really connect 100%. Pal said live shows took his material to a different level which is, on the face of it, the Bruce connection, but wait…..

Anyhow, me, said mate and two of his fellow FT fanatics ended up at a show in Southampton Guildhall a few years ago. Very good but still lacked something imho. However……

Support was an Aussie solo female vocalist, Emily Barker. One of those names you are aware of, but have yet to get round to checking out. Very impressed from the get go, then she played a superb cover of ‘Tougher Than The Rest’, noting it’s on her recent album that collects various non-album cuts. Merch table at interval, signed CD secured and a short chat. Came over as very pleasant, unassuming but with a bit of edge, if you know what I mean.

Back to Frank and yeah, pretty good but the highlight of the evening was EB, which made me hugely popular on the drive back!

Then I started digging into the back catalogue and in due course the new record, ‘A Dark Murmuration….’

Back to unpacking now, more tomorrow.

Finally, our first female album on the album club! And a fine choice it is too.

Thanks to @Walkerinthesun recommending this album when it was released, I know it well. It was a joy to revisit for this thread. I love the songs, her voice, the production. At times reminiscent of what a modern Nick Drake album would sound like with a female voice, at other times definitely sounding like Natalie Merchant, which is no bad thing.

I love Return Me, the Nick Drake like cello, and then the guitar that comes in at 2:05, sounding like it is almost in the room next door... Beautiful.

Another highlight of this record for me is that after getting into a rhythm of soft, acoustic type tracks, Machine throws a bit of a curveball with the heavy percussion and Gospel-type backing vocals, suiting the lyrical content perfectly, with the guitar playing the part of the machine.

A near perfect 40 minutes of music. If I have a favourite track, right now it would be Any More Goodbyes, which makes me think alternatively of Natalie Merchant and Shawn Colvin.

Excellent choice. Hope more people on here discover and enjoy it.