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Label: Swoon Moon - Rating:
I like music that has to be listened to more than once to “get.” Brooke Waggoner’s Go Easy Little Doves is complex and fulfilling, yet it takes a few passes through the album to gain full satisfaction.
As someone who spends most of his day listening to music, I really appreciate Brooke for providing an album that encourages repetition. Go Easy Little Doves is one of the best albums I’ve heard this year and it gained my favor through slight subtleties, hushed arias and rhythmic chants.
Funny story, when the album arrived a few weeks back, I accidentally left it on the living room coffee table instead of taking it with me in the car. My wife decided to pick it up on her way out the door and listen to it while driving to work. For the next week or so, my wife formed a bond with Brooke. By the time I got into her car for a little trip to our friends’ house, my wife was ready to play DJ; taking me through the album, guiding me on a tour track by track.
On the title track “Go Easy Little Doves, I’ll Be Fine,” Brooke sounds reminiscent of an early 90’s Cyndi Lauper. Her voice is unforgivably raspy as she convinces herself in a chorus of echoes that she’ll be okay. Behind her brooding confidence is a string section delivering a beautiful backdrop for the listener to understand the freedom of a new adventure.
The album continues as if one big performance with multiple acts flowing from ornately scripted songs to soft and meditative interludes. One of the most fascinating tracks is “Femmes.” Starting with a staccato beat, the song soon adds a trance-like chant with tribal responses. Clocking in at under two and half minutes, “Femmes” captivates and polarizes. The lyrics are poetic yet hard to interpret while the responses continue to call attention from the melodic prose. In this manner the song is stimulating but over so quickly that a return listen is mandatory.
In a note attached to the disc, Brooke explains that this album is one about the very personal journey of her life from proposal through marriage using compositions old and new. One of my favorites that I believe typifies her journey is “Wish for Bridges.” Her voice is as an echo resounding on walls in a long, narrow hallway. The voice moves closer and becomes clearer as the song builds. It could be interpreted as a wedding march of sorts; echoes of the past parting ways to the clear and present truth; the destination of love.
With this album, Brooke provides an enchanting and magical tale worth multiple listens. She is a painter with a musical palate blending styles and sounds onto a blank canvas giving it life and energy. Go Easy Little Doves is a unique narrative that takes some time warming up to but brilliant when given time. Isn’t most great art defined that way?
Like Brooke Waggoner? Check out: My Brightest Diamond, St. Vincent, Annie Lennox
