April 03--Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield writes about the in-between moments. Her characters are moving out of relationships and drifting. The future is open-ended and full of question marks, but amid the anxiety there's also a sense of possibility, if not optimism. "What's next?" doesn't have to be a cause for alarm.
The third and most fleshed-out Waxahatchee album, "Ivy Tripp" (Merge), finds Crutchfield expanding her musical reach without betraying her intimate, low-fi beginnings. The arrangements feel sturdier, but there's still an unsettling sense of intimacy. Each song gets exactly what it demands, whether the brisk, anethmic rock combo of "Under a Rock" or the lone guitar and voice bathed in reverb on "Blue."
Crutchfield's small voice is never asked to do more than it can handle, and it's occasionally turned into a small choir. Wordless melodies pop up here and there, and verge on nursery-rhyme simplicity. "Stale by Noon" could pass for a children's song with its wan vocals and chiming, music-box arrangement, and "La Loose" is built on what sounds like a chintzy Casiotone keyboard groove. As the album winds down, the sounds of barking dogs and chirping birds further underline the homespun atmosphere (the album was recorded at the Alabama native's home on Long Island).
Crutchfield keeps her songs concise, and weaves in subtle forget-me-nots, whether it's a "la-la" coda on "Breathless" or a recurring drum fill that acts like a second voice in "Air" and "." On the piano-led "Half Moon," the singer's voice frays and bleeds into the radio static and feedback of the closing "Bonfire." It's like a distant dirge, with the narrator ready to start over, destination unknown.
"Ivy Tripp"
Waxahatchee
3 stars (out of 4)
greg@gregkot.com
