Marissa Nadler – The Path of the Clouds (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Marissa Nadler – The Path of the Clouds (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 46:18 minutes | 959 MB | Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Folk, Female Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sacred Bones Records

The Path of the Clouds, Marissa Nadler’s ninth solo album, is the most stylistically adventurous, lyrically transfixing, and melodically sophisticated collection of songs in her already rich discography. Gripped by wanderlust while suddenly housebound at the start of the pandemic in 2020, Nadler escaped into writing, and came back with a stunning set of songs about metamorphosis, love, mysticism, and murder. Blurring the line between reality and fantasy and moving freely between past and present, these 11 deeply personal, self-produced songs find Nadler exploring new landscapes, both sonic and emotional.

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Marissa Nadler – July (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Marissa Nadler – July (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 46:09 minutes | 488 MB | Genre: Alternative, Indie, Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Bella Union

On July, her debut for Sacred Bones, Marissa Nadler strips away the metaphorical language that has been a hallmark in her songwriting–even when it was self referential. She speaks in the first person charting the aftermath of a devastating romantic relationship. These songs are colored in deep, gauzy American Gothic in lyric, melody, and production – the latter provided by Randall Dunn (Earth, Akron/Family, Wolves in the Throne Room). Nadler’s lithe vocals and fingerpicked acoustic guitar are, as always, at the forefront of these 11 songs. They are adorned by enough reverb to make them feel as if they were frozen in time. Among Nadler’s accompanists are violist/string arranger Eyvind Kang, guitarist Phil Wandscher, and keyboardist Steve Moore. Opener “Drive” charts the ephemeral, haunted memory of a road trip with her former lover. Grief and desire coexist in recollections of songs on the radio, road signs, shared glances and thoughts, and what’s left – his property rotting in her back seat. Jason Kardong’s forlorn pedal steel undercores her vocal. Despite its tender parlor-esque melody – which walks a line between Stephen Foster and early 20th century country music – “Firecrackers” reframes her absent lover as her attacker in documenting the song cycle’s origin: “…July 4th of last year/We spilled all the blood/How’d you spend all your summer days?….” “Was It a Dream” features Wandscher’s reverbed electric guitar introducing the lyric, and later delivering a weighty, sparse solo. Textured by Kang’s strings, Nadler reveals a “lost” year, wondering if this relationship was “a dream or something sinister.” The beauty in songs like these is that they don’t merely engage in an exorcism or catharsis, but offer an evolutionary process; experience gets integrated into the fabric of everyday life as it goes on – whether she wants it to or not. As strings, acoustic guitar, and synths swirl about her voice on “Desire,” she relates the album’s bitterest truth: “I sent my song too soon/You didn’t free me at all/And I barely needed you…I had it all wrong/I was about to believe/I could fall for you/And you had eyes for me/You got it all wrong/I was about to believe/That you had desire for me….” Dunn’s commitment here is to avoid anything that would deviate from the inherent power of Nadler’s singing or entrancing guitar playing. Because of the material and the inspired collaboration between songwriter, performers, and producer, July unfolds as a harroing, but near-perfect song cycle. ~ Thom Jurek

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Marissa Nadler – Instead of Dreaming (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Marissa Nadler – Instead of Dreaming (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 40:28 minutes | 362 MB | Genre: Indie Folk, Female Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Bella Union

Having spent the better part of her adult life on a fairly continuous tour, American singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler found a small silver lining peeking through the darkness of this ongoing era. During this unexpected time she had the opportunity to record a collection of covers to serve as a salve of serenity and comfort.

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Marissa Nadler – For My Crimes (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Marissa Nadler – For My Crimes (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 34:09 minutes | 371 MB | Genre: Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Bella Union

In a period of overabundance of major folk singers, Marissa Nadler undoubtedly stands out. She has for a long time in fact… The songwriter from Washington is no rookie as For My Crimes is already her eighth album. A wonderful record with a gothic feel, in which Joni Mitchell’s worthy heir excels in creating a dreamlike atmosphere. You could see Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval fitting right in here. The album has been co-produced and arranged by Lawrence Rothman (who was involved in Qobuzism The Book of Law!) and allows Nadler to dive deeper into the well-worn theme of love with her fresh, quirky outlook. On For My Crimes, for which she designed the cover art, the American artist collaborated with Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten and Kristin Kontrol, as well as Dana Colley (Morphine) on the saxophone, Patty Schemel (Hole, Juliette & the Licks) on drums, Mary Lattimore on the harp and Janel Leppin on the violin. The perfect soundtrack for a slow-paced gothic western!  – Marc Zisman

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