Boxharp is an eccentric collaboration between producer Scott Solter (Spoon, St. Vincent, the Mountain Goats) and Wendy Allen, past member of the Court and Spark, Tarantel, and Lazarus. Allen sings and plays unspecified instruments, Solter records and also plays, and a cast of guests including Centro-Matic’s Will Johnson contribute drums, guitar, keys, and vocals. But it’s not so much the process here that’s interesting as the result: bucolic folk songs filtered through percolating, ambient electronics. Allen’s fluttering voice is treated to ever-changing surroundings, sometimes within a single track.
Of the dozen songs, ‘Hick’s Farewell’ is derived from words by a late Southern Baptist minister later adopted by Doc Watson, ‘Leatherwing Bat’ is an oft-covered traditional ballad, and ‘The Moon’s The North Wind’s Cookie’ is a singing poem by Vachel Lindsay with a melody by Burl Ives. The latter becomes the album’s six-minute centrepiece, a track that’s at once organic and extraterrestrial. Despite its length and sustained yawn of a tempo, it’s the best song here. As in other Boxharp creations, new sounds and very old ones collide in a vibrant space that invites studied inspection.
Allen’s vocals won’t appeal to everyone – they can sound too much like throwback folk or a coffeehouse singer-songwriter at times – and patience is required to tease out the richness of this album, but there’s no denying a unique vision and meticulous beauty.
Doug Wallen
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