The Aurora Review
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Summer 2005 |
  Over the RhineDrunkard's Prayer Back Porch Records Reviewed by Tracy M. Rogers Two years after the release of Ohio, a sprawling two-disc ode to Midwestern Americana and spirituality that garnered critical praise, the duo of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist has once again proven their unwillingness to give in to musical stagnation and formulaic production. While Ohio showcased an Americana and roots-rock sound replete with a full band, Over the Rhine's follow-up, Drunkard's Prayer, owes more to folk music and American composers such as the Gershwin brothers and Rodgers and Hart in its lyrical and musical simplicity. Featuring mostly minimalist piano, acoustic guitar, and upright bass arrangements, and recorded in the duo's Norwood, Ohio, apartment, Drunkard's Prayer is an intimate eleven-track song cycle dedicated to the difficulties and joys of love. The opening track, "I Want You to Be My Love," is a perfect example of this -- a sparse folk song with simple, confessional lyrics anchored by Bergquist's subtle yet tenacious voice, which carries a mixture of Lucinda Williams' twang and Billie Holiday's jazzy lilt. The album's title track, a three-minute ballad about the intoxication of love, finds Bergquist and Detweiler adding subtle touches of saxophone and cello to the mix to create a fuller sound, while "Spark," a three-minute lament about the destructive cycle of anger and violence that continually perpetuates itself both in relationships and in the world at large, features drums and a Wurlitzer, creating an Americana sound more reminiscent of Ohio. "Hush Now (Stella's Tarantella)" adds a cabaret feel to the mix and consists solely of Bergquist's vocals and Detweiler's playful piano, while the spiritual uncertainties prominently featured on Ohio once again drift in on the acoustic folk track "Who Will Guard the Door?" Drunkard's Prayer comes to a close with the jazzy electric guitar strains of "Firefly" and an intoxicating version of Rodgers and Hart's "My Funny Valentine." The former features Bergquist's most alluring vocal of the album, a soft, aching lilt on the refrain: "My memory will not fail me now." Drunkard's Prayer is both a departure from and a continuation of the sounds and lyrical themes featured on Ohio. The intimacy of the lyrics as well as the minimalist production mark a shift in Over the Rhine's musical aesthetic, but the CD still holds on to the spiritual themes and Americana flavor of their previous albums. |