Editorial Reviews
Songs in a Northern Key
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Music Review
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Amazon.com
Released in the wake of a trend among alt-country vets to tweak twang with summery pop, Varnaline's fifth full-length is no teenage symphony to God. If anything, Songs in a Northern Key takes the opposite tack: It's dark, thorny, and full of mutterings about middle age ("My aching back is filled with jagged cracks"). Swamped with reverb, full of the drone of wheezy old organs and cranky guitar feedback, and recorded in faulty fidelity reminiscent of a Dinosaur Jr. disc, it's a clear sidestep away from Varnaline's broad, melodic 1998 album, Sweet Life. "Indian Summer Takedown" is a highlight and plenty catchy, but the balance of the album is dominated by brittle ballads ("Blackbird Fields," "Murder Crow") and noise rock ("Song," "Let It All Come Down"). Mostly a solo effort from Varnaline mastermind Anders Parker, Songs in a Northern Key is convincing proof that bleak is beautiful. --Anders Smith Lindall
From the Label
SONGS IN A NORTHERN KEY is the E-Squared/Artemis debut from Anders Parker's Varnaline. Varnaline previously released four albums on Zero Hour to critical acclaim, and was signed to E-Squared/Artemis by Steve Earle last year. The record was mixed in Nashville by Ray Kennedy of the Grammy-winning twangtrust (Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, Steve Earle - Transcendental Blues). According to Steve, "I heard about Varnaline in '97. I finally saw Anders and the band perform on one of... read more