Lindsay Clark’s latest record, Carpe Noctem, is a timeless album of pastoral beauty and genuine heart that recalls the works of Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake.
Clark, a Portland, OR based singer-songwriter, always writes from an emotionally honest place, but this album might be her most revealing LP yet.
Broken relationships and the desire to have fully requited love and companionship seem to be common threads that run throughout the record, as these themes appear time and time again. This is evident on the Judee Sill-like “In The Morning,” and the sweetly tense “Indigo Dye.” Yet the lyrics of songs like “Evening Star” and “Better Way” hit especially hard. They speak candidly of the singer trying to face herself and her inner fears, and how she is in a perpetual state of change as she attempts to open herself up to love. You don’t hear that on every folk record.
Despite the heavy subject matter of these tracks, the music is always graceful and pleasant. Clark’s elegant vocals often carry like a breeze over a landscape made of intricate fingerpicking, piano and Robert Kirby-like orchestration. William Tyler even makes a few appearances here and there, decorating a few tracks with his distinctively ethereal electric guitar work.
The album’s idyllic instrumentation pairs perfectly with Clark’s lyrics, which are lush with charming nature imagery. A whole garden of flowers, like lupines, pink camellias and gold shining buttercups are specifically referenced across the LP’s eleven tracks. However, once you hear just the bucolic strings and woodwinds swelling behind Clark’s voice, you could easily picture entire valleys rich with blossoms.
As dark as things might get on this record, this special mix of tranquil imagery and sounds always keeps the atmosphere soothing and relaxed.
Wistful, delicate but courageously real, Carpe Noctem is an astounding piece of work that any modern folk fan would love. Click here to order your copy on vinyl, tape, CD or digital today.
-KH
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