Cinder Well – A Blooming Body
With an excellent expressive voice dipped in a little melancholy stylization, the Cinder Well project of multi-instrumentalist Amelia Baker skates through the dark realms of L.A. Musically, it has roots in late-career Walker Brothers (“Nite Flights”) & later in their lead vocalist, Scott Walker, across several late-career LPs. Because Ms. Baker’s voice is actually bright in spots despite the themes, the haunting songs aren’t as much a downer as it may suggest. The music plays with cleverness throughout. Beautiful piano runs under the surface, & Ms. Baker’s fluency through this textured showcase is what keeps these tunes of reasonable interest. It isn’t rock n’ roll, jazz or blues – it’s a mélange of music with attitude, atmosphere & mood shifts.
In a more rock-oriented application, you’d find this type of music scattered through songs by Michael Been’s The Call (“Upperbirth”) & briefly by a band like Clear Light (“Mr. Blue”). But Ms. Baker’s a good storyteller; the music is applicable to the tales she tells, & it’s filled with late-night misty streets, alleys with black cats, & silhouettes behind lace window curtains & amber lights.
Produced by Amelia with Harlan Steinberger (drums), A Blooming Body (Dropped July 17/Henhouse Studios/36:52) has 8 vignettes. Poetic is the intense & sonically captivating “Ashes” — perhaps the most intriguing of all tracks. Excellently arranged & with a pinch of Brecht-Weill in its instrumental break. Tom Waits would like this combination of creepy strings with horns. There is a fragility in Amelia’s voice that doesn’t compromise her skill but adds a coating to the stark melodicism. Few pieces accelerate, but this is the style…slow burn, melodrama in the tonality, gauze across the performance instead of satin. But the added voicings Ms. Baker lays down in “Of Nettles and Roses” enrich the mystery of what she sings about.
There’s always a shadow lurking in these tunes, a noirish underbelly & an essence of foreboding. It’s all performed with discipline because this kind of music can slip from you & become pretentious. In a folkier contour are “The Color of Earth” & “Shadows Of Leaves On Red Brick” with a similar dark folk tonality of Natalie Merchant. The music scales the wall of Scott Walker (definitely “The Electrician”), determined, predatory in its passiveness with a frothy, murky evening landscape still dark, but lovely. The music is for selective tastes; it’s challenging to sink into.
Highlights – “While the Womb Screams Silently,” “Ashes,” “Of Nettles and Roses,” “The Color of Earth,” & “Shadows Of Leaves On Red Brick.”
Musicians – Amelia (vocals/guitar/violin/piano/keys/Rhodes/e-bow/organ), Phillip Rogers (drums), Greg Cohen & Pete Olynciw (bass), C.P.N. Hollywell (vocals), Dylan Desmond (synths), Ross Chaney (synths/samplers), Jake Falby (viola), David Ralicke (clarinet/tenor sax/flugelhorn), Amy Sanchez (French horn) & Marc Bolin (tuba).
Color image courtesy of Amelia’s Bandcamp & website. CD @ Bandcamp & https://cinderwellmusic.com/ & https://www.henhousestudios.com/home-store/p/cinder-well-a-blooming-body-vinyl-lp