Rockbites: Lambchop return with Is A Woman

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February 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily

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Lambchop return with Is A Woman
21 February 2002

Soft spoken 21st century bard & unrepentant genre whore Kurt Wagner along with his Nashville collective of musical chameleons known as Lambchop are back after two years to again shatter expectations. Out this week on Chapel Hill, North Carolina’s Merge Records: Is A Woman.
    By far the most chilled and minimalist of any Lambchop album, recollecting Tim Hardin’s quietest moments, Is A Woman may be the first Lambchop LP in which the intimacy of the arrangements properly reflects the emotional intimacy of Wagner’s deeply layered lyrics and sublime vocal delivery.
    Wagner said of his band’s sixth album, “[This is a] collection reflecting one type of sound and variation of that sound; the idea of using restraint in what we try to do as a band as opposed to what we have done previously.”
    He continues, “I also see this as a collection of closing songs. For example, I can almost see any of these songs used as the final song of a performance, or the 'last word' at the end of a sentence, story, or paragraph.”
    The eleven tracks on Is A Woman came together last summer, after Wagner quit his job of 14 years to focus exclusively on music. He wrote most of the lyrics in his backyard on a laptop computer, sitting in the shade of a mimosa tree.
    Wagner’s dedication to the songwriting, and the easy pace of a Nashville summer, come through in equal measure on the LP. And all this beauty is amped to an almost painful degree by the ragged honesty of a live in-studio recording approach.
    The most stunning aspects of Is A Woman are the most likely to be lost on casual listeners: the eloquent poetry of the lyrics, the subtle perfection of the singing, and the extreme use of audio dynamic range. On all counts, this is a headphone album.
    The three central contributors to Is A Woman were Wagner, Lambchop pianist Tony Crow, and producer/engineer Marky Nevers—who collectively aimed for a sound that Wagner calls “dark and breezy.” They certainly penetrated that target’s bullseye. Five bites out of five.

Rockbites ratings  5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying.

Lambchop begin a month long North American tour a week from today, followed in April and May by five weeks in Europe and the UK. Check our link for dates. | Lambchop | | Lambchop on Merge | | Is A Woman CD from Amazon US | | tour dates | | discography | | top of page |

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