Is a Woman

by

Lambchop

Edit

I first heard Lambchop when Radio 1's Evening Session picked up on 'The Man Who Loved Beer' back in '95. It was a beautiful, maudlin almost wounded song which sounded like country music after several million years of evolution. Since then they have been categorised with the alt.country or the Americana movement.

Their last album, 'Nixon' was their masterpiece and was clearly a move away from any kind of country influences. Kurt Wagner was singing in a much higher register and 'Nixon' was full of a gorgeous, glacial soul.

The new album 'Is A Woman' has received some mixed reviews. It is very different from anything they have done before. There are no traces of country and really very few obvious contemporary comparisons. The songs are pretty much all one paced, there are no radio songs, although the title track does chug up a gear half way through. And yet from the first moments of 'The Daily Growl' you feel overcome with awe at this beautiful record. Listening to 'Is A Woman' is like sinking back into velvet cushions and being bathed in bliss.

Lambchop are known for an ever-expanding line-up - heading towards 20 at the latest count - and yet this is an apparently simple record with delicate, minimal instrumentation. The secret surely is that four people in a band make pop music, Lambchop have created a modern symphony.

'Is A Woman' is an astonishing, refreshing, life-affirming work. It is so good it makes 'Nixon' look ordinary. It's hard to single out any track, they are all so obviously parts of a greater whole and the whole is seamless.

This is not alt.country or any other type of country, they'll have to invent a whole new genre for this one.

I only really got into Lambchop after hearing their amazing last album Nixon.This album differs substantially from that very worthy effort.The most noticeable difference is that this album is way more low-key.In fact that's an understatement-take the quieter moments of that album and pair it down a further 90% and you'll get the feel of this new album "Is A Woman".It's so slow moving and low-key that you find yourself wondering is there something wrong with your volume control.Each track is played at a really slow pace-there are no up tempo numbers on the album.It does cry out for one or two tracks like "Up With People".It isn't the sort of album you'd play if you were getting ready to go out to a party-you'd probably just want to crawl off to bed.Having said that after a while and I mean you have to give it several plays,you truly begin to appreciate some of the beautiful melodies on this album.

The arrangements are so minimal you wonder how they managed to use all 9 members of the group.On most occasions these songs feature a gentle piano,acoustic guitar or a very gently strummed electric guitar.Some say that Lambchop have a certain alt/country feel to their music.If this was barely evident on their last c.d.-well it isn't evident at all on this c.d.Kurt sings-well almost whispers to a soundtrack of music that would feature on a quiet Tom Waits c.d. or music you may hear at a late night smokey piano bar.After a while the lack of change can make this album a bit tedious-that's why sudden changes in tracks like "Bugs" are well and truly appreciated.These changes are pretty subtle-they may involve the use of more percussion,modern synth effects or the use of more backing vocalists.The biggest change in sound is on the title track which has a distinct reggae feel to it-and a riff I wonder if they borrowed from a very famous Marley song.If you want more up tempo tracks then I'd recommend you get the special edition c.d. which features a bizarre reworking of a Sister's Of Mercy track,a Rolling Stones track and one of his own which I feel should have been included in the album proper if only to break the mood and pace up a bit.Having said that it is an excellent track though.The title track is probably my favourite one-unlike many of the others it's pretty short coming in at a normal 4/5 minutes rather then 7/8 minutes of slow moody numbers.The fact that the arrangements are so treadbare means it takes a good few listens to get into this c.d.I've been playing it for a few days now and I'm still not quite sure if I really like it yet or not-that's why I'm going for the safe 3 stars.This may go up or down in the coming months.It is certainly a mood c.d. as it's only really suitable for specific occasions-presumably if you're in need of winding down or want something very hushed late at night so as not to disturb the neighbours!I can't see this c.d. getting much airplay at all-it really isn't suitable.It's a brave and admirable move from a group always willing to experiment-you've got to applaude them for that.They've taken a major risk on this c.d. and I hope it doesn't ruin the momentum they begun to build after Nixon.One thing is for sure though this is a high quality c.d.