Blue Reminder

If Meg Duffys Hand Habits project has become known for two things, its personal, self-aware expression and shape-shifting, layered timbres and textures that span the intricate and the atmospheric. With their albums growing more and more collaborative over time, Hand Habits fourth album, Blue Reminder, welcomes a host of in-person contributors in sessions that were largely tracked live. As a major development from Duffys early, solitary bedroom recordings, it might be reasonable to expect a bit less of that meticulous complexity here, but they manage to retain that sensibility and arguably bring it to new levels by including the participation of instrumentalists like Blake Mills; Daniel Aged (Frank Ocean, FKA twigs); Tim Carr (Perfume Genius); and Gregory Uhlmann, Josh Johnson, and Anna Butterss from the improvisatory supergroup SML. Given sessions with musical polymaths such as these, whats more impressive is that Blue Reminder remains distinctly vulnerable and intimate, with songs about things like insecurity, regret, and calm devotion. It opens with the lines "Didnt mean to tell you/But I caved/Letter by letter, I typed her name." That song, "More Today," kicks things off with a count-off and the hum of an amplifier before launching into an echoing wall of fuzz, twinkling keys, and trudging drums. The noise drops down to only guitar for Duffys soft-spoken confessions, including "I want it all or nothing," before the stomping soundscape returns to underscore the singers declarations of love. The albums subsequent shifts in sound, structure, and rhythm are as frequent as the track numbers, but some of the most conspicuous departures include the more experimental, jazz-oriented "Way It Goes," whose diverse cymbal work, organic percussion, flute, piano accents, and bleating electronics are overcome in a hooky chorus about learning to push aside toxic distractors. That song leads directly into a melancholy jazz improvisation called "(Forgiveness)." In contrast, a rare tuneful standout is "Bluebird of Happiness" ("Loneliness is gone from me/Its time to sing your song with me, of love"), the closest thing to a straightforward pop jam here. Duffy closes the 12-track, journey-like Blue Reminder on the brief and tender "Living Proof," a dreamy, philosophical reflection and appreciation with hushed, ambient instrumental noise that fades out at the end, giving the impression of falling asleep with a smile. ~ Marcy Donelson