Frail, perfect indie folk from Northampton, Massachusetts, Liz Isenberg is a rare talent with a keen sense for melody and a beautiful voice. Her music is meat & drink for fans of damaged, gentle Pacific Northwest groups like Mirah or Microphones or any of the groups that blazed the path: Sebadoh, Eric's Trip, Elliot Smith and so on and so forth.
Packaged in a sewn-together, snazzy, handmade-looking cardstock cover, this is apparently typically cool design from Leisure Class Records. Like Isenberg, the label is also based out of the cultural hotbed of Northampton which has produced a ton of extraordinary bands over the years, the aforementioned Sebadoh included amongst them.
The town hasn't been making as much noise in the last 10 or 15 years though so it's good to hear Leisure Class trying to put the town back on the map again. With as much care as they're putting in their packaging combined with the exquisite talents of artists like Liz Isbenberg, they should have their job cut out for them.
The songs have an intimate, journalistic tone. Singing in whispers, one has the sense that Liz is confessing secrets, telling drunken tales of friends, romance, scandal, gossip, hopes and fears in the small hours of the night. Her songs are consistently good, and consistently blessed with a melodic sense that lesser artists lack.
This is one of those records that you're not going to see at at the Wal-Mart, or even your indie rock record store, I'll bet. Which makes it that much worth seeking out and that much more delightful when it does cross your path at a show or in a handsome package in the mail direct from the label with a handwritten note of thanks. Liz Isenberg is a name to remember and you'll have no trouble doing just that when you hear her voice dance elegantly in the upper registers. Beautiful stuff.
