Bored and surfing the net one day, I stumbled upon Marissa Nadler’s music snooping around on the wonderful Daytrotter (great site, that one!)….I must say this woman sounds like an angel…she has one of those hauntingly beautiful and melodic voices that strikes you immediately.
Marissa’s soft and sad ballads bring you back to another place in time…finger-picked guitar compliments her voice perfectly. This delicate blend forms some truly stunning folk ballads. She has said in interviews that she is into traditional Appalachian music and it comes through in some of her songs.
Not only is this talented young lady a musician, she is also artist. Check out some of her artwork here on her webpage.
A review about her album “Songs III: Bird On The Water” taken from her MySpace:
“They talk of loss, death, grief, the brokenness in love, transgression, and the appearance of being able to move freely among these very strong emotions while becoming so informed by them: her world view and her heart’s view are not only informed by them, but inseparable from them. Nadler has written a song suite here that fully articulates her strongest gifts: she never has to reach for notes, only to open her mouth and they pour like honey, slowly, purposefully, and look at the smaller entrances where her imaginative narratives enter the human being and root themselves there for lifetimes. There are no seams in this album, and to quote her lyric poetry out of the context from the music would be an injustice. Song III is not to be compared with any of the recordings of her contemporaries. She falls for none of the traps, she communicates with a kind of gentle candor that is unsettling, elegant, and utterly graceful. This is music that is violent in its ability to shift the listener’s attention toward it, but it is delivered gently, slowly, and purposefully. For those who have been seduced by the works of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Illuminations album, Tom Rapp’s later solo work, the recordings of Bill Fay, late Current 93, Antony, Michael Cashmore, Leonard Cohen’s early material, or the middle period records of Pearls Before Swine, this is certainly for you…. Disturbing, beautiful and unforgettable, Song III: Bird on the Water is among the most arresting recordings of 2007 thus far and sets a new high-water mark for this seemingly limitless songwriter. ” – All Music Guide, 2007
Buy her music here:
“Bird On Your Grave” video:
Laura,
Glad to see you discover Marissa’s tunes. She is by far my favorite freak folkie (hate the tag). Been following her for years and glad she’s getting noticed by more folk.