Rachael Sage – Chandelier

MPress Records

If you’re not already a fan of Rachael Sage’s delicate, driving voice and intimate, confessional lyrics, her 8th album proves that it’s never too late. Chandelier is made up of thirteen songs that are loosely tied together by the theme of fragility. A number of the tracks detail personal relationships and love gone wrong. Other topics include acting, a friendship with John Lee Hooker, and a chance meeting with a troubled young woman in the ladies room. Sage also contributes a cover of “Mexico” by Jump (formerly Jump, Little Children).

Chandelier straddles the genres of folk and rock, with a little bit of gospel and blues sounds thrown in for variety. It opens with the frantic melody of “Vertigo,” and concludes with the title track, a sweet, though perhaps somewhat cliché, meditation on the question, “What if I woke up tomorrow and I couldn’t sing?” Stand-out tracks include the paradoxically-titled “Invincible,” the evocative “Corinne,” and the sublimely sad and somewhat spiteful “Hunger in John.” But not all of Sage’s songs are all plaintive melodies, the disc also features the aggressively cheerful tracks “Angel in My View” and “Wishbone.”

Chandelier isn’t for everyone – Sage’s voice is occasionally childlike and breathy, and can feel as though she relies too heavily on vocalizing nonsense syllables. Some tracks even have a soporific quality, particularly the instrumental “Beloved” and the spoken word “Site-Seeing.” At times the poetry of her lyrics is lost in repetitive accompaniment, but those who take the time to pick out her words will likely find them very moving.

Review by Kellie Powell