That Night in June – Shannon McArdle
So here’s the situation. An artist puts out a record that’s okay but nothing special. Except for two songs that are just out of this world good. More albums are released all of which hover in the general territory of listenable but not particularly moving. At what point do you write of those two tracks as an aberration?
In this example, the two tracks are “Catch a Collapsing Star” and “The Lethal Temptress” and the artist is Shannon McArdle (formerly of The Mendoza Line). Those two songs are revelatory, amazing, and grow with every listen. But, on the whole, the rest of her work with The Mendoza Line felt like a pale imitation. I never got around to reviewing their follow-up/break-up record last year because it totally failed to motivate me. And now that the band (and the marriage underneath it) is no more she’s got a solo record called, evocatively, Summer of the Whore.
To be clear, it’s not a bad record. Actually, it’s rather good. As a stylized representation of the pain that accompanies a failed relationship it’s powerful and jagged. And for people who are into the style of tightly-wound smothering folk-driven breakup songs, it’s probably all that you’d ever want.
But the thing is, I just can’t get into it. The distinguishing thing about the two tracks mentioned above was the way they soared above everything else. The expansiveness of the sound was the perfect counterpoint to the cutting honesty of the lyrics. Summer of the Whore certainly doesn’t soar. Instead, it’s deliberately stifling, almost suffocating in its closeness. The result is a record that, I think, succeeds in what it’s trying to do, but which fails to really click for me.
That doesn’t mean there’s nothing here I enjoy. “Paint the Walls” has a wispy texture that evokes a sense of distance essential for the rest of the album. The title track reeks of a bitter self-loathing that’s tremendously powerful. “This Longing” is a light little song that takes on a much more sinister context once you recognize it within the broader context of an album about the power of self-deception. And “That Night in June” is an excellent song that almost completely passed me by the first few times I listened to the record. It’s a slow-burner, the sort of track you must treat delicately, letting the sleepy temp of a slow waltz unfold itself. And if you’re in the right mood the violin solo that comes in after about two minutes will make you swoon utterly. It’s a glimmer of what I keep hoping she’ll eventually put together for a whole album.
Based on the style and attitude of her work, this sort of thing seems to be intentionally used sparingly. Which returns me to contemplating how strange (and sad) it is that even those artists who are capable of so perfectly evoking everything the works for me may simply have little interest in continuing to make that sort of music. Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) is only the most extreme example. There are also plenty of cases like Shannon McArdle where it’s not a matter of being unable to recapture lightning in a jar but rather simply a divergence of paths. She continues to make great records, they’re just not what I keep hoping for.