The Sophie Drinker Record

Cynthia Nelson, ex-Retsin (with Tara Jane O'Neil), Naysayer, Ruby Falls, and poetess extraordinaire collaborates with Miggy Littleton (Ida, K., Blood on the Wall, White Magic) on an album of highly literate and infectious pop music ranging from playful to heartbreaking. The Sophie Drinker Record moves like a swarthy lament. Conjuring its namesake (Sophie Drinker was a 1940s feminist musicologist), the songs convey a divine discontent with certain givens. Musings on oceans collide with rainy city streets. Then a drumbeat or a melody rises up with the sudden force of a train, only to creep away again, restless and perfumed. The songs together trace a wistful longing -- full of wet tires, drunk nights, and the moments when we are strangers to even ourselves. Violin and flugelhorn interspersed throughout take the record to intriguing heights and depths.