While 2009 has revealed several incredible indie-folk
releases—A.A. Bondy and Imaad Wasif, to name just
two—there’s an inevitable saturation point. Sure, recording an
intimate set of songs in a weathered barn in upstate New York or in a
cramped Williamsburg apartment possesses inherent charms, but how much
longer can those of us in search of something “different” endure yet
another mandolin-powered pop song nearly 20 years after R.E.M. made the
redneck instrument cool?
If the neo-folk movement continues to produce efforts as fine as
Orenda Fink’s Ask the Night, perhaps the trend isn’t a problem.
Now based in Los Angeles, the ex-Azure Ray singer/guitarist recorded
her second solo full-length in her old basement in Omaha, Neb., and the
modest 8-track approach doesn’t hurt the sonic quality.
Overall, Night marks a stark return to Fink’s Southern roots,
with tracks like “Half-Light” and “Alabama” digging deep into
trad-country territory, while others like “High Ground” are so
coffeehouse-appropriate you can almost hear a cappuccino machine
blasting away in between notes. To be fair, Fink intentionally
specializes in quiet, melancholy moods. Too bad certain lyrics weren’t
better edited to avoid vagueness and exhausted metaphors.
Regardless, Night is the ideal soundtrack to the sun’s first
quiet rays of dawn.
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2009.