Molly Pinto Madigan is a damn fine songwriter. A weaver of tales and observations. There is something very pure and sweet about her delivery, angelic even. The way that this album was pulled together in its instrumentation highlights and only strengthens the songstresses craft, like a thread through a seam, intensifying the delivery of her words. Something Eric Lichter does so well, as we all know too well. Yes friends, another Dirt Floor family member has risen from the ash and ‘Wildwood Bride” shines like the goldest of phoenix.
Madigan’s voice is airy and light. It has a delicate flow in the way it dances across the arrangements, yet it stands out. When she needs to bring it, she does, but this isn’t your “X-tina” screaming type way, there is a subtly to the way that she proves the power of her voice. It is perhaps the balance in how you lean in so close to hear the story of the song when she is softly crooning with the build of the chorus on songs like “Here Comes the Night” or maybe songs like “Bloom” with their slow pick and faintly painted vocal harmonies just make you listen extra harder because you want each and every nuance to cross your ear canal.
There is something deeply poetic in her words. A definite sense of yearning and desire is laced throughout the tracks. I feel as though many album covers are random, or just what design maybe looked best and utilized a logo or font…Molly’s album cover and artwork perfectly encompasses the feeling of the songs contained within. A siren drifting through an evergreen forest, singing her songs out for the trees and the fauna. Something secretive, withheld but with an occasional glimpse into her mind. There is some beauty pressed deep into these songs.
***Molly’s CD release for this record is on March 19th at Club Passim and bluegrass’s best local gentlemen, The Whiskey Boys will be joining here. Tickets here: http://passim.org/club/molly-pinto-madigan-cd-release-whiskey-boys