(2023) Cinder Well - Cadence

Review:
Celtic mythology speaks of “thin places,” locations where the barrier between this world and the otherworld is permeable. Cadence, the new album from Cinder Well, is filled with thin places, moments when a strummed chord or a sung note is left to hang for just a second or two. It’s in those seconds that Cadence reveals its mysteries. For Cadence, Amelia Baker, who records and performs as Cinder Well, returned to her birth home in California, mixing a bit of the hazier parts of Laurel Canyon into her explorations of the old ways of Ireland begun on her 2020 album No Summer. The result is an album that is not quite the self-described “doom folk” of her previous project, but one that retains the dark resonance that makes Cinder Well unique. The album opens with a literal exploration of thin places, “Two Heads, Grey Mare.” The story of a man’s drunken encounter with a selkie, the water-dwelling shapeshifters of Irish lore, “Two Heads, Grey Mare” is the first of many songs on Cadence to benefit from the haunting trance guitar and strings of Lankum’s Cormac MacDiarmada, who brings a weight of atmosphere to lyrics like “We weathered the tide in a drunken croon / another trick in the tide and you’re gone too soon.” Another album highlight is “Gone the Holding.” A musing on travel and consequences, the song features understated drums courtesy of Baker’s childhood friend Phillip Rogers. “Ferry port / metal wing / to other shores us they bring,” Baker croons, before lamenting “I am alone in the fields tonight / and alone I may remain / stark like consequence.” You can almost feel the spirit of Liege & Lief era Sandy Denny. The most obvious nod to Laurel Canyon comes from the album’s second single, “Overgrown.” It’s notable for being Cinder Well’s first song in a decade written in a major key. But don’t take it for a breezy album cut. This slice of Laurel Canyon is more Joni Mitchell (whose Court and Spark Baker sang to warm up for studio vocals) than The Eagles. It’s the story of a lifelong love affair and the inevitable approaching death that will separate them. “I do know more slowly we will ramble / those strong bones of us more fickle / slow to the thoughts / the speed at which they pace / gaps between to widen and erase.” If thin places really do exist, you can bet Cinder Well is providing their soundtrack. While there is a bit of influence from the sunny California coastline, Baker once again proves herself the master of the minor chord and delivers, if not quite “doom folk,” then certainly “dark folk.” Cadence consistently finds the dark places and, rather than bring them to light, finds beauty in them. — nodepression.com

Track List:
01 - Two Heads, Grey Mare
02 - Overgrown
03 - Returning
04 - Cadence
05 - Well On Fire
06 - Crow
07 - Gone the Holding
08 - A Scorched Lament
09 - I Will Close in the Moonlight


Media Report:
Genre: indie-folk
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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