Anything Glass

For her third Common Holly album, Montreal singer/songwriter/producer Brigitte Naggar rejoined her longtime collaborator and co-producer Devon Bate while incorporating a couple of firsts: Anything glass is her first long-player to be recorded in a proper studio, and it was tracked mostly live (except for overdubbed multi-tracked vocals). What hasnt changed is the quality of adjectives like "intimate," "textured," and "patient" to describe Naggars gentle, probing songs. "Ive got these terrible hands," is the repeated, allegorical opening line of first song "Terrible hands," a reference to the consumerist tendencies of many of us as creatures on a planet in decline. While the concept is somewhat heavy (this line is later echoed by "Weve got these terrible plans"), its executed through simple means, with repeated phrases, minimalist, object-surface percussion, and a gossamer mosaic of bass, piano, and acoustic guitar. Eventually, layered harmony vocals and electric guitar are added to the mix. Naggars debut for the Keeled Scales label, the album was performed entirely by Naggar, Bate, and the projects touring bassist and drummer, Alex Rand and Thomas Sauve-Lafrance, with guest Michel Naggar contributing guitar to just two tracks. (Naggar, Bate, and Rand also play guitar on the record.) The more introspective "Enough" explores self-doubt with sentiments like "I dont think what I do is enough/But maybe its enough," which are themselves indecisive. That song is one of the bolder entries here, with staticky effects, a full drum kit, and more assertive vocals, although theres still the impression, as suggested in press material for Anything glass, that it was performed by four people on the floor. Named influences for the album include such soft-spoken artists as Bill Callahan, Lomelda, and Mount Eerie, and this tracks as the album moves through selections like the mostly acoustic "Aegean blue" and thematic complement "The wood from the sail," a song with a subtly more chamber-like orchestral sound, including Naggar on passing streaks of flute. All told, its an impressionistic, searching album that ends with the spare and pensive "Wise mind," where she realizes that she wasnt the one who knew best. ~ Marcy Donelson