To the uninitiated, singer-songwriter ERIN MUIR's upcoming release Poet's Lovely Daughter may sound like the work of a well-established artist - masterful, mature and confident, the record puts Muir's accomplished songwriting and uncanny, haunting voice on full display. What a surprise, then, to find that this eclectic ten-track album is the artist's debut, an impressive start to what looks to be a promising career. With ace producer Bernie Larsen, Muir has concocted a sublime, moody album, with inventive arrangements that weave tremolo guitars, electronic whispers and acoustic ambience around her sulltry contralto vocals.
The album displays an expert versatility while maintaining a consistent, undeniable vibe. String-tinged opener "Supernatural" invokes flamenco rhythms and Latin pop motifs, atop which Muir intones like a cross between Fiona Apple and Annie Lennox, "In these lines I do not promise anything true or false/But in all ideas and in all songs hide the secret laws of love/Love will open up your eyes to what is truly here." "Heart Given" finds Muir against a spacey, bluesy slow-burn; an semi-autobiographical tune that recalls a sprawling Midwestern open road as the backdrop for loves lost and found: "No rivers/Heart given/Kneel down and let me pray/No sinners/No winners/Just the light at the end of the day." Elsewhere, "Shadows and Silt" embraces salsa rhythms and Spanish guitar behind a tale of rapturous new love.
The title track "Poet's Lovely Daughter," a reverb-drenched, Eastern European-like tribute to a modern-day witch friend of Muir's, found the artist living out the song - in an unexpected manner. While working on the track at the mixing board, which concerns " a witchy woman being burnt at the stake, either figuratively or literally," according to Erin, the singer literally caught aflame. "I was mixing the song, and my back was to her," recalls producer Larsen. "She said she was on fire. I said 'I know." Then she said 'No, no, no, I'm on fire!,' and I turned around to find her shirt was engulfed in flames."
"These songs are definitely passionate and very raw, honest and vulnerable," says Muir. "Music is such an amazing conduit - it doesn't only affect your intellectual mind but your entire body." A former student of Saint Olaf College's School of Music, Erin dropped out to pursue her true direction, both geographically and musically, years ago - and Poet's Lovely Daughter finds the full realization of that music. Both subtle and striking, moody and affective, it's a debut you won't want to let pass you by.
| 
ERIN MUIR INTRODUCES A HAUNTINGLY SEDUCTIVE NEW VOICE TO THE INDEPENDENT MUSIC SCENE
Opeth turns death metal into dark, seductive embrace (Reuters)