Kentucky-based Sarah Beth Tomberlin has an undeniably intriguing backstory: a strict Baptist upbringing; dropping out of a Christian college as her faith receded and she discovered the secular appeal of Conor Oberst’s Bright Eyes; the songs she’d written coming to the attention of Oberst’s Saddle Creek label, who signed her. Yet while the emotional turmoil of losing her faith has evidently influenced At Weddings (several songs have a hymn-like quality and the lines “I look for redemption in everybody else/ But funny thing is that I always hated church” are telling), to focus solely on that aspect would be to do a disservice to an immersive and impressive debut album.
These 10 powerfully personal songs are in the main backed just by acoustic guitar and piano, and suffused with subtle melodies, which makes the occasional bursts of dissonance all the more potent, as on Self-Help. That song opens with the arresting lines “Electrocuted in the bath tub/Yellow-black my bruises” and throughout the sparse arrangements give her lyrics space to breathe. Pick of the bunch is I’m Not Scared, and its blunt line “To be a woman is to be in pain”. There are traces of White Chalk-era PJ Harvey, Low and Sufjan Stevens here and there, but At Weddings introduces a new and singular talent.
