First Listen: Marissa Nadler, 'Marissa Nadler'
Marissa Nadler's new self-titled album comes out June 14.
Marissa Nadler's new self-titled album comes out June 14.
Audio for this feature is no longer available.
Since her 2004 debut, Boston's Marissa Nadler has drawn a big response from a small crowd. Her dreamy, fragile folk songs are revered among an assortment of tastemakers, but they haven't yet broken through to a larger audience. Her new self-titled album, recorded at the same Philadelphia studio where Sharon Van Etten made last year's Epic, should help change all that.
Marissa Nadler was brought into being by Nadler's fans through a Kickstarter campaign. The result sets the bar for contemporary singer-songwriters ridiculously high, but it also draws from some classic influences. The album's centerpiece, "Baby, I Will Leave You in the Morning," summons the spirit of Roy Orbison and the pulsating vibes of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb." The hypnotic "Wedding" surges with waves of subtle psychedelia. "The Sun Always Reminds Me of You," with its lush, sweet pedal-steel guitar and Nadler's delicate-yet-confident vocal, functions as an answer to Emmylou Harris' "Easy From Now On." Hints of Leonard Cohen and Kate Bush pop up everywhere.
On this gorgeous new record, out June 14, Nadler outdoes herself with 11 songs that are as accessible as anything she's done, but also just as satisfying.
More From This Series
First Listen
First Listen: Regina Spektor, 'What We Saw From The Cheap Seats'
Spektor is an oddball sentimentalist whose words summon universal feelings of love, hope and desire.
First Listen
First Listen: Sigur Rós, 'Valtari'
Valtari's collection of gorgeous, moody sound-washes fits right into the band's remarkable catalog.
First Listen
First Listen: The Walkmen, 'Heaven'
Heaven sounds big even as the band finds more and more comfort in performing at a whisper.
Comments
Please keep your community civil. All comments must follow the NPR.org Community rules and terms of use. See also the Community FAQ.
NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its website or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.