Aby Wolf “Sweet Prudence” Review
If the Twin Cities music scene has one thing in particular going for it right now (besides awesome Hip-Hop) it’s that it is a veritable cornucopia of talented female singer songwriters. Some, like Channy or Haley, can already be locally recognized by first name alone while others like Lucy Michelle or Caroline Smith are well on their way to becoming the genre’s “next big things.” In such an excess of musical endowment it means a lot more to rise above the fold. The competition, though friendly, is much stiffer. That is why I am so impressed with Aby Wolf’s new album, Sweet Prudence. In an environment where excellence has become common, she has risen above to become, in my opinion, the most promising female vocalist in town.
Sweet Prudence is a collection of ten excellently crafted songs, which were all recorded in local Hip-Hop musician Omaur Bliss’s apartment. Despite the homegrown studio, Bliss’s production is excellent, giving each track clear-as-a-bell sound and a wonderful dynamic range. While Wolf generally tends to the folkier side of the musical spectrum, at times the record also touches on Pop and even Hip Hop. Throughout the work, each song is tethered by Wolf’s lovely voice, which she loops in order to create ethereal, complex arrangements.
Lyrically speaking Wolf is mercurial: her songs don’t so much tell a story outright as they convey ideas, such as the struggle to make the right choices in “Focus” or the passage of time in “Hourglass.” In what may very well become the album’s first single, “What U Waitn 4″ Wolf’s overlapping vocals give the song the structure of an argument with herself: and indeed the lyrics seem to be about a struggle that very well could be internal. One of my favorite songs on the record, the slow burning “Death Ballad” affects all of the pathos of Chan Marshall’s melancholy days through verses that would be depressing were they not so gorgeous.
Backing Wolf up are some all-star Twin Cities musicians including Marshall Lacount and Nora Invie of Dark Dark Dark, as well as the violin of Joanna James, who I was convinced that we had lost to Los Angeles last year. The vocals themselves take on the role of most important musical instrument in tracks like “Movin’ In” and “Redwood Aisle,” in which they are warped and looped into a style reminiscent of the fabulously innovative Juana Molina.
Also: Aby Wolf “Drama Queen”
