Kristin Mooney has made a contemporary folk album that defies easy categorization. The Minneapolis native has spent time in Nashville, but it doesn't seem to have hurt her any. For this collection of a dozen songs, all of which she wrote alone or with one or two others, she has drawn some of the alternative scene's most talented musicians and technicians. The result is a series of creative, atmospheric arrangements that breathe life into some songs on fairly common folk-rock themes.
Mooney recorded the self-titled album over a year in several trips to Tucson's Wave Lab Studios, home of Calexico, Giant Sand and that crowd. The core of musicians includes Calexicans John Convertino on drums and Joey Burns on bass and cello, and Eric Heywood of Son Volt on electric and pedal steel guitars. Also lending a hand on various instruments and recording chores are Howe Gelb of Giant Sand, Wave Lab's Nick Luca and Craig Schumacher, and former Handsome Family player Dave Trumfio.
But all that expert assistance would be for naught without good songs, and Mooney delivers. Although they deal with the usual singer-songwriter subjects -- relationships and character sketches predominate -- Mooney almost entirely avoids the usual pitfalls of navel-gazing, obsessive examinations of emotional states, and lyrical cliches.
The album is bookended with intro and outro tracks titled "Jump Rope," featuring whistling that resembles whale-song and Mooney chanting "jump rope" over a soundscape of slightly jazzy bass riffs, crying pedal steel and guitar arpeggios. In between, the settings range from more lightly jazzy tracks like the cryptic "Julie Christie," a sparsely sketched portrait of the actress; and the brooding, minor-key "Forever Yours," a dissonant exploration of boring domesticity; to the mid-tempo folk-rock of "Boyfriend," a portrait of a problem-drinker from the point of view of the one who makes excuses for him. "Sally Tomato" is an intriguing look at a professional gambler told by his arm-candy girlfriend.
There's plenty of more typical folk fare too, like "Timothy Hay," a love song in a pastoral setting; "Dolls," a rather dark look at family activity on a lakeside holiday; "The Cheating Game," a pained examination of adultery; "The Store," an even more painful song about the end of a relationship, in a slow, country-soul setting; and "Deliver Us From Us," a prayerful look at yet another relationship in the doldrums.
Mooney delivers some incisive lyrics along the way, like "I'm shiny like a star/strobe light faces flashing by / seem close when they are far..." from "Julie Christie;" and "...gradually fading, I've been waiting/forever hesitating" from "Forever Yours." And throughout, the words delivered in Mooney's warm alto are put in the best possible light by the restrained arrangements and performances, particularly Convertino's sensitive drumming and Heywood's picking. The occasional use of spooky bowed vibes or Howe Gelb's cabaret-style piano playing add just the right accents.
If there's nothing exactly groundbreaking here, nonetheless for tasteful writing and excellent performances outside the usual singer-songwriter realm, Kristin Mooney earns a spot at the top of the year's contemporary folk recordings.
