| Marlee MacLeod |
Alternative Folk
For those who like their country with a hard-driving rock edge -- a big, thick sound enriched by both a Hammond B3 and a pedal steel -- and an artist whose lyrics often tumble out with a breathless urgency, Marlee MacLeod may be what the doctor ordered. Blessed with a strong voice with an endearing twang -- something like a backwoods Sheryl Crow -- MacLeod tells her stories with conviction and feeling as the band roars behind her. The furious assault of "In the in Between" adds an ambiguous edge to what appears to be a story of a fleeting romance that's emblazoned in memory. Even the quieter moments rise from a whisper to a scream. The spare acoustic guitar and percussion arrangement supporting "Down Your River" builds to an invigorating crescendo as MacLeod sings of being ready take her lover on just about any terms, if only for a moment's pleasure. She's a hopeless romantic and a realist all at once, sometimes within the same song ("Wish I Could"), and she expresses this dichotomy with a poetic eloquence that offers its own rewards. In mattes of the heart, she posits, what seems clear-cut on the surface yields more complex possibilities upon closer examination -- the same can be said about MacLeod's music. David McGee
|
|
|
