New music: Margaret Glaspy, Buck Meek, Kris Davis and Diatom Ribbons, Owain Arwel Hughes

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This article was published 08/09/2023 (1103 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Margaret Glaspy

Echo the Diamond (ATO Records)

Margaret Glaspy’s 2016 debut album, Emotions and Math, established her as a deft guitarist (she’s Berklee-trained), a writer of beguiling, confessional songs and an expressive, keening singer.

She quickly gained traction in the alt-indie world — so much so that she toured for two years (including a memorable appearance at the 2017 Winnipeg Folk Festival) before realizing she needed a lengthy break. Her followup record, Devotion, came out in March 2020 and was thus a non-starter, given the COVID lockdowns that kept musicians from touring.

Nevertheless, that album’s incorporation of synthesizer, pianos and electronic beats brought several new wrinkles to Glaspy’s sound, without holding back her knack for a poppy melody, as on the single Stay with Me.

Kicking around at home for a couple of years clearly brought Glaspy closer to her guitar, as Echo the Diamond kicks off with what can easily be described as her heaviest song yet — a riffing, ringing tune about infatuation and desire in which both the singer and the object of her affection struggle to “just act natural.”

Glaspy has said these 10 songs were the result of a deliberate effort to write more “instinctively,” and she and her husband and co-producer, Julian Lage, also set out to capture them as quickly as possible.

The recording sessions, featuring a trio of Glaspy, bassist Chris Morrissey and drummer Dave King, took just three days and the resultant performances swing and roll with a natural groove and unadorned honesty — in fact, the first take of Memories, a plaintive, gently strummed song about grief and loss, is the one that made the record, as Glaspy said she simply couldn’t get through it again.

As could be expected, the effect of Echo the Diamond is immediate. Its songs about love, loss and hope are immediately familiar (the story told in Irish Goodbye will ring true for many) and its mix of gritty guitar, breezy melody and endearing vocals (check out the notes she holds as Get Back reaches its peak) is richly intoxicating. We can all hope we get to see Glaspy and her band play them live — soon. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: Act Natural, Memories, My Eyes on YouTube.

— John Kendle

Buck Meek

Haunted Mountain (4AD)

BUCK Meek, the stellar guitarist of Big Thief, is out with his third studio album, Haunted Mountain. It is a lovely fusion of twang and rock with prime songwriting that works to define the art of caring.

Sure, this is largely love song territory for the troubadour. He sought a bit of solace and wrote the songs in the mountains of Portugal and the Swiss Alps. But it’s a deft examination of how the heart grows, and not a breezy travelogue.

The title track is buoyed with hope as Meek sings, “All of my life I’ve been a rounder / Travelling across this green land / But now that I live here on this haunted mountain / I know I’m never coming down.”

Surprises abound. The Texas-reared Meek collaborated with filmmakers on a project about the late Judee Sill, a folk singer-songwriter who died in 1979. Meek was asked to put some of her unreleased lyrics to music for the project, and he obliged in fine fashion — released here on The Rainbow.

“I tried to honour her, to be a vessel for her,” Meek said in a press release. It’s fitting and it works on the short but sweet track.

In all, Haunted Mountain is a jangly collection of country chord structure with moments of electronic swoon, lush reverb and guitars in overdrive.

The result is music as inviting and complex as the world-travelled Buck Meek. He’s Sufjan Stevens-adjacent, for those new listeners needing a cubbyhole to put him in. But his music stands on its own, and it is one of the most ear-friendly releases of 2023. ★★★★ out of five

STREAM THIS: The Rainbow

— Ron Harris, The Associated Press

Kris Davis and Diatom Ribbons

Live at the Village Vanguard (Pyroclastic Records)

THIS release from Vancouver-born, Calgary-raised pianist Kris Davis includes the usual suspects — Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, Trevor Dunn on bass, and turntablist and electronic musician Val Jeanty. Added here is guitarist Julian Lage. Obviously the two-CD set was recorded at the iconic Village Vanguard for a most knowledgeable and enthusiastic audience. The result is frankly extraordinary.

Not everyone loves electronic jazz, and when a turntable is added, it becomes perhaps an even more acquired taste. But while some turntable jazz is painfully contrived, this works well, adding to the mood and intent of the track.

Bird Call Blues for example, is ultimately a pretty straight-up and powerful blues track, and the occasional turntable riffs make this proof that the blues have no limits. It is a terrific track — with bird calls added as well.

This is adventurous and often intense music, with remarkable skill apparent by all; Davis’ ssolo on Brainfeel is amazing. The addition of Lage on guitar is inspired. He adds a wonderful new voice to the band.

There are melodic moments here, but basically the music pushes the edges.

There are two versions of Wayne Shorter’s Dolores that inform the creative range of the band. Another quirky feature of the album is the use of three recorded voiceovers by earlier musicians.

They are Sun Ra discussing cosmic music, Paul Bley discussing how Charlie Parker changed his approach to music, and Karlheinz Stockhausen discussing intuitive music. A most highly recommended release.

★★★★1/2 out of five

STREAM THESE: Brainfeel, Dolores (either take)

— Keith Black

Owain Arwel Hughes

Oratorio Dewi Sant (Saint David)

(Rubicon)

Welsh conductor Owain Arwel Hughes leads the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales in Oratorio Dewi Sant — Saint David, composed for three solo voices, chorus and orchestra.

Composed for the Festival of Britain in 1951 by the conductor’s father — and 10th son of a Welsh coal miner — Arwel Hughes, the album is the first recording of the work performed in its original Welsh language.

The younger musician notated his father’s hand-written music to create a published score, with helpful liner notes providing Aneurin Talfan’s Welsh libretto text with English translation.

After a rousing opening chorus Praise the Lord (all titles listed in English), listeners are treated to the first of the three soloists — all of Welsh heritage — in the subsequent Who’ll bring his sickle to the yellowing wheat?

Soprano Susan Bullock infuses the movement with soaring lyricism that also highlights her uppermost range, while bass-baritone Paul Carey Jones brings gravitas to Boia, my son, O why wilt thou so mock thy God?

Tenor Rhodri Prys Jones likewise is given his turn to shine during the piece’s final three sections: And on that Sunday stood David at the altar, From Sunday to Wednesday and Kyrie Eleison, his own melodious vocals soaring up during the latter movement, while equally penetrating the text with operatic fervour, in this satisfying addition to the oratorio discography.

★★★★ out of five

STREAM THESE: Who’ll bring his sickle to the yellowing wheat?, Kyrie Eleison

– Holly Harris