Waxahatchee – Cerulean
Salt
Don Giovanni, 2013
Cerulean Salt is a
small album. It clocks in at just over thirty minutes and most of the songs
hover around the two-and-a-half minute mark. Those are the sorts of stats that
make my eyes light up, and Katie Crutchfield’s understanding of concise
songwriting is what really makes this album work. It makes frequently often
heart wrenching songs that much more potent, and while Cerulean Salt may not be my favorite album of 2013, it’s one of the
albums I have listened to the most because Crutchfield’s (mostly) quiet songs
are just the sort of thing I like to listen to late at night.
Crutchfield seems to have a lot in common with Laura
Stevenson. Both have played in pop-punk bands, both have released albums on
well respected DIY labels (No Idea for Stevenson and Plan-It-X for
Crutchfield), and both are signed to Don Giovanni records. That’s really where
the comparisons end (other than the obvious fact that they are both supreme
tunesmiths). Stevenson is more soulful and more idiosyncratic where Crutchfield
is fragile and hits you straight in the gut with her confessional lyrics. Her
songs oscillate between acoustic and electric guitar, but they almost always
feels hushed, stripped down, and spare with the exception the punk-tinged pop
tune “Coast to Coast,” the jaunty “Lips and Limbs,” and “Peace and Quiet,”
which highlights what the album does best via its quiet verse and big catchy
chorus. The quiet little songs are where this album lives and breaths. Though
the songs feel small, they’re never slight. Crutchfield has one of those beautifully
plain voices that really works to sell the humanity of her songs. Cerulean Salt’s most potent asset is
that you feel like you’re sitting right next to this person spill their guts
onto the floor.
"Misery Over Dispute"
"Peace and Quiet"
"Lips and Limbs"
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