At The Dam - Vinyle Bleu

Description

The music of Mary Lattimore functions like a kind of emotional synesthesia. Rather than seeing colors when she hears notes, Mary Lattimore feels things: sadness, hope, nostalgia, memories. She channels all of this into moving songs composed on her harp. Much of her music consists of feelings or memories that she channels. The memory that serves as the basis for At the Dam, her second album released in 2016, is particularly striking. Mary had received a prestigious grant from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage – a rare honor awarded to only 12 people each year – and she used the funds to take a road trip across America, writing and recording songs at each stop. Armed with her harp and laptop, she drew inspiration from each place, allowing the environments in which she recorded to seep into her work. The result is moving, delicate, and beautiful music, with her harp sometimes bright and bouncy, sometimes distant and hazy, wrapped in a vaporous delay effect. It results in recreations of moments from the past, tender, sweet, and warm. Mary Lattimore's experience with the harp began very early. Her mother is a classical harpist, and Mary started taking lessons at the age of 11. She quickly found herself collaborating with musicians like Kurt Vile, Arcade Fire, and Thurston Moore, applying her distinctive style to their songs. But it was playing with Fursaxa that most expanded her horizons. All this experience is reflected on At the Dam. Much of the record was recorded in Joshua Tree. She also recorded in Marfa, Texas, at a friend's house, as well as in the mountains. The common thread among all these locations is that they are far from Mary's home in Philadelphia, and she was alone throughout the recording process. Whatever the subjects addressed, At the Dam handles them beautifully: on "Jaxine Drive," the guitars emit deep, sad sighs beneath a sparkling harp. On "Ferris Wheel, January," Lattimore is more melodic, with notes drifting like snow, gently shimmering, creating a tranquil and wandering melody. At the Dam settles in like a charm, each note pulling you deeper into its trance. New pressing on blue vinyl.