June Lauren Prescott is hitting hard. This album, an assemblage of 7 chefs-d'oeuvre, is a celebration of her birthday. After her interpretations of baroque classics last year, Prescott now presents us her own compositions - And they sure don't need to shy away from anything!
While two titles read like birthday resolutions – i will not accept my shortcomings and i will kick my ass and self-deprecation is no longer an appropriate strategy, the other five songs establish a particular topical subject. As they take place in fairly different parts of the world, they seem at first unrelated to each other. But by listening to the album we become part of the recurring theme – taking part in invading the protagonists private spheres.
In to forgo warmth and communion we are forced to listen to two women philosophizing about aging and dying, the human nature, basic needs and coffee.
nurture samples from Hong Kong - Cage Dwellers, a 2010 coverage of Hong Kong's working poor in urban slums.
sister valedictorian, as the name suggests, is about a farewell speech by a female valedictorian. Most of the time, her voice is barely audible, yet we manage to find out that we're taken to a high school. The speech is, like valedictions usually are, highly sentimental and thus remarkably discomforting to the listener who does not have those memories shared among the students.
The subject of high school irruption is grimly escalated in the ghost of springtime past, where we are taken back to the the May 21, 1998 Thurston High School Shooting, where 15-year-old student Kip Kinkel killed two students and injured 22 more after being expelled for bringing a firearm to school.
Finally, the epic Whenever we might and will not (To Karen Carpenter) is a dedication to Karen Carpenter and her battle with anorexia nervosa.
Happy birthday, Lauren!