I didn’t know about Heather Woods Broderick until I listened to the Broderick and Broderick EP a couple months back. When “Let Me Love You For Free” played and I heard HWB harmonizing with herself while accompanying, long-distance, her brother and father, it became necessary to do some searching.
Those searches revealed that Heather has been singing and playing guitar and keyboards with Sharon Van Etten for awhile.
Then I discovered Broderick’s From The Ground solo LP…four years after its release.
I’m compelled to go on record stating that I am exasperated at every person in the world who never told me this album existed. I’m sure these are, otherwise, quite nice folks, but in this context, they suck.
There’s not an expansive range of mood or emotion on From The Ground. Using acoustic instruments — guitar, cello, zither, celeste, piano — Broderick explores an engaging breadth of…well, melancholy. Her brother Peter‘s violin/viola playing, mixing and production contribute substantially to the somewhat plaintive and languid feel of the album.
Very high points: “The Colors,” “Back Room,” “Wounded Bird,” “Turned”:
….and “Cottonwood Bay” (fan video):
Folks appreciate comparisons in music reviews, I’ve heard. After listening to this album almost daily over the past month, I posit, righteously, that HWB is damned near incomparable. But if you still insist I claim From The Ground reminds me of something, okay, uncle: certain songs (such as the title track) have a less-produced Julee Cruise vibe, circa Floating Into The Night. But please don’t let Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch know about Heather Woods Broderick. If they get their hooks into her next album, the world will likely implode, and who needs that?
Heather Woods Broderick From the Ground LP or CD from Forced Exposure
