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Kathleen Baird, "Lullaby for Strangers"
With Baird’s deep, commanding voice, Lullaby for Strangers is more likely to induce troubled sleep than peaceful rest. In fact, her hypnotic singing could very well induce trances, if not somnambulance.
Baird is like a siren of the deep woods who can enchant travelers with a few well-chosen words. Songs like “Breaking the Roofs” and “The Last Word” remind me of folk tales in which faeries kidnap humans. “Morning Song #2,” on the other hand, sounds like an organ that’s played late at night in a forest clearing, while everyone else is fast asleep and upon waking cannot account for their disturbing dreams. “Storms Stay Fine” is the song that’s the most like a lullaby, with water and Baird’s soothing singing.
Baird’s only misstep is “Bury Deeper,” which is too overtly morbid and has a vocal melody that’s a little grating at times, but the song is so brief that it subtracts very little from the whole. As further testament to her talent, Baird also plays almost all of the instruments on the album yet makes it sound as if she has many collaborators with their own communication styles. Although the album runs a little short of half an hour, I prefer Baird’s economy of expression compared to an album that’s padded merely to fulfill running length expectations. Lullaby for Strangers proves that she can bewitch in a short amount of time.
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