The Gathering Of Spirits
Philo/Rounder Records, 2002
http://www.carrienewcomer.com/
REVIEW BY: Duke Egbert
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 09/04/2008
Part of the fun of having moved out of the smallest apartment in human history and into a house (with a yard and a garage and everything) is that I have my CDs back out where I can get to them instead of packed in a box somewhere. This has resulted in a summer full of deliriously happy wanderings down
After several impassioned emails from our Fearless Leader, Jason, and a visit from a large man named Knuckles who mentioned the need for more copy while slapping a crowbar into his palm suggestively, I found something I haven’t reviewed. And it’s a doozy. And I have meant to review it for years, anyway, so, without further ado: a damned fine CD. To wit, Carrie Newcomer’s A Gathering Of Spirits.
I love Carrie Newcomer’s voice. I want to listen to it for hours. I want to pour it over ice cream; it’s that particular gentle alto with a slight burr to it that’s magnificently expressive, combined with a higher register that becomes a musical call to action without being strident or thin. With this good a voice, the songs have to match -- and they do. Newcomer is a brilliant songwriter who believes in enabling change with her music: change in the world, change in the self, and change in the human heart.
Every single track on The Gathering Of Spirits is brilliant in its own way. However, I have particular fondness for “The Fisher King,” a moving and mystical ballad; the tongue-in-cheek sentiment about growing older that is “Silver;” and best of all, the utterly magnificent, breath-taking, and tear-inducing paean to light and faith, “I Heard An Owl.” Few songs make me cry. “Owl” is one of them.
Carrie Newcomer is a wonderful artist who should get more airplay, more sales, and more credit. The Gathering Of Spirits is a great place to start experiencing her.