Carla Bozulich is an artist who certainly can’t leave indifferent whoever listen to her music. She has a visceral approach in which experience of life is deeply intertwined with the music, creating an emotional tide that can eventually be repulsive for those who approach it in the wrong way.
Her music can go from background noise to waves of sound chaos. Just as his voice ranges from whispered tone to excruciating cries covering the whole spectrum of the human condition and in particular the most tormented side. Being perceived as an underground priestess of darkness, which on one hand reproposes the more hieratic tone of Patti Smith or PJ Harvey and on the other the more invaded one of Diamanda Galas, without forgetting Lydia Lunch, which by its own admission represents one of the its major references, it is also perhaps the most controversial aspect of the artist.
If one addresses her music on a superficial level, in fact, her attitude may seem overly constructed and mannerist and her experimentalism could be seen as an artifice for its own sake. But you listen more carefully and, if you dig deeper, you realize that behind the harsh and monolithic appearance you can find a demanding music of one of the most authentic and stimulating authors in circulation. In fact, Bozulich requires the audience to make an emotional and listening effort necessary to overcome the superficial rough armor so as to reach the dense core in which the essence of her poetics is found.
It Is a challenging and not always pleasant journey, and perhaps not for everyone, that however may become a meaningful and profound experience.
After participating in groups like Geraldine Fibbers and projects with her ex-husband Nels Cline, without forgetting Willie Nelson’s highly successful full-length cover of Red Headed Stranger, Bozulich came to a solo career. Her musical journey started in 2006, thanks to the fundamental support of the Constellation label, which published the exceptional “Evangelista” and the equally notable “Hello Voyager” but after some discs emerged the need for a change.
So in 2014 with “Boy” the New York singer opted for a change in sonic strategy. The album described by the author herself as her “pop” work contained a series of songs which show a relatively more conventional and rock format, without letting go the intensity of interpretation and the experimental attitude that has always characterized her works.
Just on the following tour, Bozulich suffered from a temporary hearing problem to an ear. So it is from this condition, and from the alteration of the perception deriving from it, that “Quieter” is born. In fact, the artist decides to recover some songs that didn’t suit in previous records while they fit perfectly to the muffled approach of the new project.
The classical density of sound present in previous works is diluted in a more scattered sound that favors a more enveloping atmosphere than the oppressive one of the past and the emotional asphalt casting that in particular covered “Evangelista”, her most intense record.
The album starts with the litany of “Let It Roll” where, on a carpet created by bass, tinkling percussions, sound manipulations and a wind instrument with a Middle Eastern flavor, Bozulich sneaks in with a tone that is initially recitative and almost subdued. The song does not have a real crescendo but, as the author’s interpretation increases in intensity, it is reinforced by a few calibrated piano and guitar notes, effected voices and brushed drums that create a ghostly but engaging effect.
A similar road is covered in “Glass House” where, however, a first part characterized by a sort of bizarre carillon, this time follows a real progression that leads to an almost positive and melodic ending, at least by the standards of the singer and in “Stained In Grace” where instead we find the disquieting and suffered spirit of the first records.
“Sha Sha”, in the middle of an introduction and a conclusion of double bass and drums between free and chamber music, offers us Bozulich as a soft and light as we had never heard before.
The three final pieces offer us the collaboration with some guests that produces decidedly stimulating results.
In the dreamlike and theatrical atmosphere of “Emilia” we find the guitar of Marc Ribot who, chased by the cello, shows all his mastery oscillating between more jazzy sounds and distortions to even touch Frippian territories. The piece culminates in a virtual choir reproduced by Bozulich’s voice overlaid several times.
“Written In Smoke”, the most difficult piece in the record, catapults us straight into the darkness, in a sort of rarefied blues nightmare, in which the sung is overwhelmed by dissonance and effects produced by Sarah Lipstate better known as Noveller.
But the album ends with a brighter note and the most surprising track, “End Of The World” written by Ribot. The song is a jazzy ballad, played by Carla with unprecedented grace and delicacy, accompanied only by the guitarist.
Summing up, we are facing Bozulich’s best work since “Hello Voyager”. The artist shows the will to shake off from herself a character of which she risked to become prisoner, showing an evolution that goes hand in hand with the maturity that the inevitable flow of time brings. (Rating: 8.00)
By Mason
Originally published in italian on July 22 2018
Republished in english on May 01 2019
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