Sacred Bones Records 旗下的澳籍民謠新藝人 Indigo Sparke，柔和又淒美的唱腔聽過一次不會忘。由 The National 的 AaronDessner 擔當製作，發行第二張專輯《Hysteria》，相較她的處女作《Echo》更厚實，歌詞裡一連串的鮮明圖像，書寫歇斯底里的邊緣——關於愛的孤寂和不安。
Indigo Sparke s majestic second full-length album Hysteria is a sweeping work, one that possesses a rare, reflective power. On it, she examines love, loss, her history, and the emotional upheaval surrounding those sensations: her words tell the stories, and the sounds act them out. It is a diary built for big stages. Hysteria arrives just a year after her striking, minimalist debut, Echo. Here, though, Sparke offers an expansive body of work—it is a complex collection that expands her sound and outlook.
Work on Hysteria began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while Sparke was stranded in quarantine in her native Australia. After moving back to New York in the spring of 2021, Sparke finished writing the album s 14 songs and decamped upstate with producer Aaron Dessner (The National, Taylor Swift). “Originally we were going to co-write, but after he heard my demos he said, There is so much in here already, Sparke recalls on how Dessner, who also contributes instrumentation along with guitarist Shahzad Izmaily and drummer Matt Barrick (The Walkmen, Muzz), got involved in bringing Hysteria to life.
Centering Sparke s powerful vocals throughout, Hysteria is packed with big guitars and layered instrumentation that practically acts as the album s lungs, giving every note breath. From the pulsing immediacy of “Infinite Honey” to the soaring “God Is a Woman s Name and “Hold On”s towering chorus, this is music that sounds huge even as it zooms in on the trials and turmoils of one s inner life. You can hear Sparke reflecting on reconciliation, grief, hope, and the passage of time on the perpetually building “Pressure in My Chest” and the airy, Joni Mitchell-esque title track, which finds her embracing a gorgeous upper register over gently strummed guitar. “Set Your Fire on Me” builds and bursts not unlike Angel Olsen s own raw folk-rock expressionism—and then there is the stark opener and first single “Blue,” which acts as a cosmic road map for Sparke s own journey in life.
Sparke observes while reflecting on Hysteria s thematic bent “these songs are about being at the axis point of love—right at the edge of hysteria—and how that transformed me.”
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小白兔官網
