Pentimento

Carson McHone begins 2025s Pentimento with the sounds of birds chirping outside and McHone reciting the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, as they appeared in a letter to Margaret Fuller. Neither of these things necessarily define McHones creative approach on Pentimento, but their presence speaks volumes about how this LP differs from her previous work. Theres a musical and lyrical intimacy in these songs and performances that sounds natural and unforced, and she is clearly not wary of letting her poetic sensibilities take the lead in her writing. According to McHone, nearly all the songs on Pentimento began as poems before she struck on the idea of setting them to music, and while the words mesh comfortably with the melodies, much of this album lacks the pop-informed insistence of 2022s Still Life, instead aiming for a sound thats expert but informal, the sound of a handful of fine and simpatico musicians playing together in a room, captured with a production that makes the most of the space between the notes and the accompanists. The word "pentimento" describes the barely visible outlines of an image an artist chose to cover as they rethought their work on an oil painting, and it suits the material here, which isnt afraid to let its literary influences show and add color to the music and McHones lovely vocals. She clearly wanted to make a more contemplative and personal album, and this is something apart from the alt-country and indie folk archetypes that informed her previous music. The ingredients here are steeped in roots music, but shes put them together in a way thats not pretentious but reflects a more experimental approach thats smart, ambitious, and powerfully evocative. And even when she lets an electric guitar wail at length on "Fruits of My Tending," it feels not like a rave-up but a roar from the id that breaks through McHones carefully layered emotions. As a writer and a vocalist, Pentimento takes Carson McHone to places that are new for her, and she makes some remarkable discoveries along the way. If it differs in approach from her previous albums, it just as clearly reveals her talent and creative fearlessness, and its something beautiful and truly special. Seek it out. ~ Mark Deming