Patty Larkin's dreamy 'Watch the Sky' CD
The Boston-based artist's latest album, "Watch the Sky," is an
artful, forward-minded collection of songs featuring dreamy
textures and percolating percussion that draw inspiration from
Indian melodies, Middle Eastern rhythms, classical motifs and the
occasional shift into adult pop accessibility.
Over it all, Larkin's delicate yet expressive alto probes
matters of the spirit and soul, repeating phrases much as she
repeats percussive riffs. She pulls listeners in with mantras and
searching, Zen-inspired phrases, but brings it down to earth with
moments of gentle ache and sweet joy.
One of American music's most distinctive guitarists, Larkin
produces and plays all the instruments on "Watch the Sky" - from
bazouki to lap steel to toy organ to more the familiar sounds of
guitars, bass and drum loops. Despite its impressionistic
soundscapes, it's obvious that such highlights as the
transcendental beat-poetry of "Beautiful" to the soulful jazz
strut of "Walking in My Sleep" to the Paul Simon-like
"Hallelujah" are crafted with careful exactness.
Occasionally, Larkin's atmospherics lose their center, as on the
rambling "Bound Brook." But that's rare, as the majority of these
12 original tunes re-assert Larkin's standing as one of
contemporary music's singular stylists.
CHECK THIS OUT: On "Here," one of warmest tracks on "Watch
the Sky," Larkin summons a gentle evocation of the comfort of
enduring love, making her music and words sound as sturdy and
familiar as the landscape outside the front window.
