Elisa Ambrogio - The Immoralist (2014)

Tracklist

01. Superstitious
02. Reservoir
03. Mary Perfectly
04. Clarinet Queen
05. Kylie
06. Far From Home
07. Stopped Clocks
08. Comers
09. Fever Sealed Yes Forever
10. Arkansas

On the Magik Markers' later efforts and with Ben Chasny as half of 200 Years, Elisa Ambrogio was already exploring gentler songs than the challenging noise-rock for which she's best known; on The Immoralist, she delivers an entire album of them. While connections can be made to where she's been before - particularly on the album's brooding midsection, where "Kylie" and "Clarinet Queen" recall some of the Magik Markers' more introspective tracks - the album still delivers another perspective on her music, one that's more intimate and often more accessible. Ambrogio refashions the drones of her other projects into transporting pop that sometimes recalls the flair Karen O displays for wry, open-hearted songcraft in her solo career. The charming "Superstitious" manages to be skeptical, romantic, and funny at the same time, while sparer songs like "Reservoir" and "Far from Home" have a fawn-like vulnerability and delicacy. Ambrogio gives her unhurried, impressionistic songs room for dreaming and reflection, setting a mood that's distinct from much of her other music. Even louder tracks like "Stopped Clocks" and the foggy "Mary Perfectly" share a meditative quality with interludes like "Comers" and "Fever Sealed Yes Forever" that remains unique to The Immoralist. Ambrogio saves the best for last with "Arkansas," which boasts one of the album's most unaffected melodies and philosophical lyrics like "Nothin' new would live if nothin' died." While the album still leans more on the experimental side than the pop one, it shows Ambrogio can do both well. Soft but not wispy, melancholy but not weepy, The Immoralist offers a sweeter and more personal side of an artist who's already shown plenty of facets.

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