Album Review: Adrianne Lenker, songs and instrumentals

Adrianne Lenker’s latest solo excursion is an organic, intimate and intense personal statement. Written and recorded in a small isolated cabin in the woods, it seems to place the listener right there with Lenker, making it feel like a personal one-to-one performance. It’s minimal in nature, mostly focused on delicate fingerpicking and Lenker’s entrancing, emotional voice, yet never feels bare, even during the nearly 40-minute instrumental side.

Her lyrics are defined by poetic, abstract imagery that evokes colourful landscapes – and chill-inducing emotions. She explores the encroaching darkness as she reflects on death both in a metaphorical and literal sense. Many of the tracks are sombre in nature, but the beauty of her guitar work allows some to feel a bit more lighthearted. Dotted between the more abstract lines are powerful, evocative vignettes. On ‘half return,’ she describes a visit to her childhood home, memories of a rusty swing occupying her mind as she feels like a child again, standing on the now-dead lawn.

The cycle of life and death is central to the record, whether seen through the lens of the natural world as it continues to create life out of death or that of a once-vibrant relationship that has since withered. Adrianne Lenker’s personal reflections feel universal in nature, evoking powerful emotions of joy, healing and pain in the listener.