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Lisa Germano, "In the Maybe World"

Lisa Germano's latest record (her first for Young God) is beautifully weird.  Any record that lays out the line "Go to hell/Fuck you" as the sing-along hook to a lush, folky lullaby can't be bad!

 

Young God Records

If "Red Thread," the bitter argument song built around what must be the most sweetly sung expletive in the history of recorded music were the only thing worth paying attention to on In the Maybe World, the record would still be worth picking up at full price. The fact that the album is loaded with other gems that are odd but impeccably pretty makes it a steal at any price.

This is a great record to escape into. It's filled with vague stories that sound somehow familiar and it's produced with familiar instruments that sound somehow foreign. I love that kind of reversal of expectations, and Germano's unique approach takes songs that could have easily been rendered as background noise and makes them something that demands focus.

The only time she loses me is when the rhymes get too obvious, or the lyrical content steps too far into the abstract world of fairies and dreams. Germano's best songs here are dark even though they sound hopeful, and a little creepy even as her voice seems so polite and innocent.

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