[rating=9.00]
Her first album in eight years, Leslie Mendelson’s Love and Murder is also one of the best records of 2017. A proclamation of loyalty to her muse and so much more than simply a mere follow-up to her Grammy-nominated debut Swan Feathers, this collection of ten tracks, a combination of originals and equally heartfelt covers, recounts a story of faith in the redemptive power of artistic expression that’s as universal as it is personal.
Not surprisingly, given the intimate nature of the material, this is a set of sparse performances, essentially rendered by the duet of Mendelson herself on vocals, guitars, piano and various other instruments along with Michael Chaves on guitars, bass drums and vocals. Bob Weir plays guitar and sings on Roy Orbison’s “Blue Bayou,” a piece of forlorn majesty in its original form and here turned into a piece of piercing but nonetheless subdued introspection; the deceptive fragility in Mendelson’s voice plays off most effectively against the weathered tones of Weir’s.
Bob Dylan’s “Just Like A Woman” is similarly striking in Mendelson’s reworking of the tune as an internal dialogue of self-examination that becomes all the more powerful for its spare accompaniment and unadorned production; as captured by producer Mark Howard at Real Music ‘on location in Topanga Canyon,’ the silence surrounding the voices and instruments here is almost as crucial to the overall effect of the track as the sounds themselves.
If there’s a major theme to glean from Love and Murder, however, it emerges from a palpable sense of liberation rooted in the Leslie Mendelson’s own songs as co-authored with Steve McEwen. While her voice sounds inordinately fluid on first listen, the forthright way she holds the notes on “Jericho” belies that characteristic: the sound of her voice reaffirms her inner strength and fortitude, especially when it’s as deeply echoed as the acoustic instruments or double-tracked in and of itself.
The ringing of piano notes Mendelson plays on “Coney Island” becomes yet another metaphor for emotional (and spiritual?) clarity, mirrored in the album’s black and white graphics and in line with subtly taut strings applied here by Patrick Warren. As on “Crazy,” the deceptively fragile quality of Mendelson’s voice on “Murder Me” carries the requisite haunting air of danger and mystery corresponding to the title. In fact, the full effect of the track makes it almost sound like a dare to the world outside Leslie’s head and heart. “Chasing the Thrill” compounds the impression of psychic abandon at work in those other originals.
Meantime, “Cry Cry Darlin’,” a traditional country cover from the Acuff-Rose songwriting team, sounds like this resolute artist’s uplifting message to herself, especially as it immediately follows the softly glowing (omnichord?) sounds of “The Circus Is Coming to Town.” There’s a definite sense of forward motion within both those cuts which reflects back (and forth) through the whole of Leslie Mendelson’s Love and Murder.
