Posted by By Luke Chesser, Staff Writer
songs – Adrienne Lenker
In songs, Adrienne Lenker cements herself as a once-in-a-generation songwriter that lulls you in with beautiful instrumentals and stabs with pained reality. To start, this album´s instrumentals are downright beautiful throughout the whole album, as simplistic as they are with a sonic palette of only acoustic guitar and occasional percussion. Her guitar playing is so effortless–yet subtly complicated–and never falls into musical cliches, lingering between intricacy and simplicity. The songs feel very real, as if she is in the room, playing her songs just for you, like a snapshot of when the songs were created. You can hear birds, rain, and creaking chairs in the background of many songs, like you were sitting with her then and there in the isolated cabin where songs was recorded. Along with this, songs also pulls you completely and totally into this musical world where there are double tracked guitars swirling around you, as if you were floating up and above the cabin, over the woods, and into the stars.
As you can imagine, this album is introspective, affecting, and ultimately–sad.
As beautiful as songs can be, it can also be absolutely soul crushing. In early 2020, Adrienne Lenker suffered a breakup and soon after a worldwide pandemic, retreated to an isolated cabin in west Massachusetts, and then wrote and recorded songs in the span of only 5 weeks. As you can imagine, this album is introspective, affecting, and ultimately–sad. Not in an obvious, tacky way, but in the way that shines through someone’s offhand comments and weaves through memory in nostalgia and silence. In songs like zombie girl, she combines the mundane with the otherworldly to somehow create something oddly relatable and intimate. In one of the more intriguing instrumental parts of the album, the closer my angel ends abruptly and suddenly, with a popping noise like a cd ejecting. This is both a songwriting device putting a sudden end to the song´s story, and also a reminder of how drawn in you were to the album, forcing you back into reality, reminding you where you are. Her songwriting is at the best it’s ever been, and nearly every lyric is extremely potent and powerful, as much as they are reminding, conjuring a feeling reminiscent of walking through a relative´s abandoned house, a recollection of heartfelt memories in a room where ivy now grows and sunlight seeps in through boarded windows.
Songs is a deeply personal, no-skip album that should be listened to in full, and given time to grow personal meaning and connection. I cannot recommend this album enough, and I can confidently say that songs is not only an indie folk classic, but also a 10/10.
- Album: songs
- Artist: Adrienne Lenker
- Genre: indie folk, singer-songwriter
- Rating: 10/10
- Highlights: forwards beckon rebound, half return, not a lot just forever, my angel, zombie girl
More fall recommendations:
- Either/Or – Elliott Smith -> A classic, a must listen for indie folk fans (or anyone, really)
- Souvlaki – Slowdive -> Lush, dreamy essential shoegaze album
- Self Titled – Horse Jumper Of Love -> Slowcore-tinged introspective indie rock
- Hypnic Jerks – Spirit of the Beehive -> A warm, psychedelic album that leans from indie warmth into uncanny paranoia
- Between II Gardens – Sword II -> Inventive shoegaze/noise pop, perfect for Halloween
- Maple – Wyatt Smith -> Extremely underrated artist, Alex G vibes
- Self Titled – Teethe-> Slowcore blended with folk, a must listen for fans of duster/slowdive
- Twin Plagues – Wednesday-> Who knew shoegaze and steel guitar would work so well?
- Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic – The Sundays-> Croquette dream pop classic, what more needs to be said?
- Charm – Clario -> I don’t care what people say about ¨charm summer¨, it’s Charm fall
- Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You – Big Thief -> Indie folk rock masterpiece fronted by none other then Adrienne herself
- The Land Is Inhospitable and So are We – Mitski-> Her most popular album yet, for a reason
- They are Gutting a Body of Water – gestures been -> a heavier shoegaze album that flickers between distortion and beauty
The Maroon 