Eleanor Friedberger - Last Summer

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4...according to our Clinton on Fri 29 Jul, 2011.

I keep meaning to buy the last Fiery Furnaces record 'I'm Going Away' where finally their penchant for excess was reined in a little. Originally a sort of White Stripes Volume 2, they quickly pursued an idiosyncratic muse, taking in music hall, madcap prog, Sparks-like histrionics and everything in between. Following a 1 out of 10 review in NME for their second album, the excellent 'Blueberry Boat', I followed their eccentric career with interest despite them officially being the worst band I've ever seen live following a despairing gig at the Cockpit, Leeds. Anyway, whilst brother Matthew pursues his six-album 'Solos' folly, sister Eleanor makes a much more straight up pop record that could finally propel her somewhere towards the mainstream. It basically sounds like a Fiery Furnaces shorn of all the eccentricity and absurd musical tangents. 'My Mistakes' is an excellent opener with nice scratchy Strokes like guitar and a hell of a catchy chorus. It's followed immediately by 'Inn of the Seventh Ray' which slows the pace, utilizing effectively Friedberger's distinctive almost scat like half spoken/half singing vocal style before once again providing a simple but effective chorus which lingers long in the memory. On 'Roosevelt Island' it's interesting to see Friedberger attempt a discofied Bee Gees squelch stomp which really suits her style and is not completely dissimilar to Sheryl Crowe's 'All I Wanna Do' if that doesn't make you want to throw up. But it's an anomaly amongst the material as what we get are Friedberger's clever, wordy mid-paced catchy tunes, a careful hand on the desk, placing her voice nice and high in the mix and no self-consciously arty messing about.

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Who is Eleanor Friedberger? Friedberger is previously known for her work in Chicago power-pop harmonie-musik The Fiery Furnaces, a band she created with her brother Matthew at the turn of the millennium. They’re too modest to mention that they’ve won a number of awards, sold out happenings the world over and made nine albums, most recently Take Me Round Again, a collection of cover songs from their previous album. That experience, combined nwith the fact that The Fiery Furnaces aren’t breaking up, inspired her to make her first solo record, Last Summer, last summer.

In the music, you will hear the casual confrontation of the most emotionally direct Fiery Furnaces songs, plus a lot of snap, crackle and pop. In fact, in these songs made of memories, you will hear the future. Sparks, Donovan, Procol Harum, Kath Bloom, Lô Borges and Todd Rundgren too. Friedberger’s phrasing is as good as anyone’s; even better, when the line’s over and most other singers would leave it right there, she’ll throw in an unnecessary extra syllable—a “yuh” or an “er,” even an “oh oh.” It’s like she hates silence. “Eleanor Friedberger’s music improves on silence”: there’s your headline.

With Last Summer, Eleanor Friedberger may well be telling us about last summer, or various last summers, or even—WATCH OUT!—the last summer there will ever be...One thing is certain: she’s playing a long game. Welcome to Level One.

TRACKLISTING:

1. My Mistakes
2. Inn of the Seventh Ray
3. Heaven
4. Scenes from Bensonhurst
5. Roosevelt Island
6. Glitter Gold Year
7. One-Month Marathon
8. I Won’t Fall Apart on You Tonight
9. Owl’s Head Park
10. Early Earthquake