REVIEW: Handsome Family, In the Air (Carrot Top)
- Chris Hill
The Handsome Family, consisting of modern American Gothic couple Rennie Sparks, Edgar Allen Poetess of death and madness, and Brett Sparks, bi-polar, baritone singer, have returned from the shadowlands with more rich, erudite folk songs fit for urban nihilists and backwoods moonshiners alike.
Fans of their last, Through the Trees, will be pleased to note that Rennie's song writing skills continue to awe. She captures brief instants in time and fills them with astonishing detail, endowing characters with tragic flaws and scenes with tangible reality, making the inevitable tragedies all the more poignant.
In the Air contains the dire stories fans have come to expect and love: an Edward Gorey picture of a woman spurned by her lover, then devoured by crows ("Poor, Poor Lenore"); a murder ballad of possessive, obsessive love ("My Beautiful Bride"); a watery suicide ("Lie Down"); alcoholic, chaotic madness ("So Much Wine"); fratricide ("Up Falling Rock Hill"); Sunny beach music, this isn't.
Several rays of light do manage to pierce the lyrical dark. "Don't Be Scared" is an angelic tune of a fearful man finding reassurance in his dreams: "Whenever Paul thinks of snow/soft winds blow/round his head/and his phone rings just once late at night-/like a bird calling out, 'Wake up, Paul./ Don't be scared./Don't believe you're all alone.'" And "Grandmother Waits For You," a track carried over from the Handsome Family's 1997 vinyl-only EP Invisible Hands paints a serene picture of heaven, as infirmities are left behind with the body: "The hills are scattered with empty wheelchairs/and hearing aids thrown to the ground/The long night is over/The shadow has passed/and farewells forever are done."
Brett's solemn, rootsy vocals treat each song seriously -- one might say gravely -- rolling under and over the words with obvious relish. Brett also pens the music that backs his wife's visual lyrics; tunes that include a three-step waltz ("The Sad Milkman"), finger-pickin' hobo guitar ("In the Air"), and violin- and guitar-infused melancholy ("Up Falling Rock Hill").
In the same way that grandfather could read about a wicked wolf devouring a helpless grandmother, these grim songs are somehow strangely comforting. While you're held safe on an ample lap, pipe tobacco, Old Spice cologne and warm arms around you, the world's terrors, still only imagined, are held easily at bay. Brett's voice conveys that same heartening feeling of security -- the dawn's not far away, no matter how dark it is now.
In The Air also includes a video from the band's Milk and Scissors cd: the affecting "Amelia Earhart vs. the Dancing Bear," a song of the images that flash through the aviatrix's mind as her plane crashes and burns.
For your exploration: http://www.carrottoprecords.com/ and http://handsomefamily.home.mindspring.com/ -- label and band site.
