SOUNDTRACK: MOLLY SARLÉ-Tiny Desk Concert #898 (October 4, 2019).
Molly Sarlé was recently on a Tiny Desk Concert with Mountain Man (who I heard but didn’t really see at Newport Folk Festival).
During the Mounatin Man songs, Molly tends to have the high harmonies. In this session, she doesn’t sing especially high–although her voice is quite delicate. It’s hard to believe she was a back up vocalist for Feist, not because her voice isn’t lovely–it is!–but because she doesn’t seem to be a very powerful singer.
The first Mountain Man album came out in 2010. The second Mountain man album came out in 2018. This is Molly’s first solo album. During the intervening years, she did a number of things (like sing backup for Feist), but was apparently never sure if music was her calling. And yet her songs are personal and powerful.
The songs Molly Sarlé performed at the Tiny Desk are all from her debut solo album, Karaoke Angel. These songs aren’t frivolous–at the heart of Molly Sarlé’s songs are stories. Sometimes they feel like dreamy inner thoughts loosely connected.
She opens with “Human,” a song I knew from a different Mountain Man show on NPR (Tiny Desk Family Hour).
It may simply be a breakup song; but its wisdom is in recognizing our individual flaws, being OK with them and even finding pleasure in being imperfect beings.
Although interestingly at the Family Hour, she said it’s about how “unfortunately easy it is to talk to god like he’s a man.”
The song is fairly simple–a pretty melody and a steady one-two snare/hi-hat (Austin Vaughn). In the Family Hour, the song was just her and her gently strummed guitar with backing harmonies. It’s really lovely. This version has an absolutely wonderful bass line (from Brian Betancourt) that runs through it. It doesn’t detract form the beautiful simplicity of the song, it adds a nice counterbalance and I can’t really tell which version I like better.
Bob also says, “She’s a captivating performer who sings as much with her eyes as she does her voice.” That is so very true. She looks out at the audience throughout the song, with a possibly inquisitive look. He blue eyes piercing through the lovely melody.
It’s weird just how funny Molly is–she seems fairly serious, and her delivery is quite slow, and yet she has a great (or wicked) sense of humor.
Before “Karaoke Angel” she starts looking at the tchotchkes on the shelves. She
began her fascination with the multitude of objects shelved behind the Tiny Desk back when she sang with Mountain Man earlier this year. This time, with her own band, those objects left by others inspired a tale of a sweaty towel, an old lover and more.
The item, labeled “Betty’s Boob Sweat” leads to a funny story of dating a ember of Feist’s band and the sad aftermath when she could feel somewhat jealous of a sweat rag.
After telling this story she ends with this amusing non-sequitur: “No one should have to see their ex-boyfriend’s sweat rag on an other woman’s clutch. Life is painful and this song is called Karaoke Angel.”
Molly plays the main guitar chords (so gently) while Adam Brisbin plays a quiet wavery slide guitar part. The song sways gently and Molly’s voice is just beautiful–unadorned and clear and very pure sounding.
For all the quietness of the song, the lyrics are pretty amusing too:
I walked into a bar and gave my heart away to the first stranger I met who could remember my name.
I got up on the stage and sang at the top of my lungs Its so easy so easy to fall in love.
Each subsequent verse is about a man in the bar
Mike walked over / he was picking up what I was putting down / he said honey I am only gonna disappoint you somehow / oh Mike quit talking to me like you’re saying something I didn’t already know / I can tell by the beauty / of the furrow in your brow / you’ve been anointed by disappointment / and it might even be something you like.
Before the final song “Almost Free,” Molly tells the shockingly sad origin of the song, but has to laugh, because what else can you do
Molly cleared her throat and said this song is “about my dad wanting to talk to me about committing suicide — and it turns out writing a song about your dad talking to you about wanting to commit suicide is a great way to shift the conversation, because now we just talk about this song.” Molly Sarlé laughed a bit about the absurdity and truth of it all and, with what I sense as holding back a tear, sang a powerful, personal song in an awkward, open office space.
It starts out with just Molly strumming her guitar and singing. It seems so stark and exposed, that when the rest of the band comes in and the song almost rocks a bit (sounding like a jam band song) that it’s comes as a relief.
This is a quietly powerful Tiny Desk and really shows off how beautiful Molly’s voice is.
[READ: Summer 2019 and October 29, 2019] The Helios Disaster
This is a weird book, to be sure. It was written by the then wife (now ex-wife) of Karl Ove Knausgaard. But it is absolutely nothing like his books. Linda has her own style and perspective that makes these authors miles apart. This book was translated from the Norwegian by Rachel Willson-Broyles.
It opens like this:
I am born of a father. I split his head. … You are my father, I tell him with my eyes. My father. The person in front of me, standing in the blood on the floor, is my father. …The blood sinks into the worn wooden floor and I think, his eyes are green like mine.
How at my birth, do I know that? That my eyes are green like the sea.
He looks at me. At my shining armour. He lifts his hand. Touches my cheek with it. And I lift my hand and close it around his. I want nothing but to stand like this with my father and feel his warmth, listen to the beating of his heart. I have a father. I am my father’s daughter. These words ring through me like bells in that instant.
Then he screams.
His scream tears everything apart. I will never again be close to him.
She removes her armor, puts down her lance and flees the building. The neighbor, Greta, says she will help the girl, while the police come and investigate the commotion. When Greta asks the girl what she wants, the girl says she wants to go to her father. But Greta says that Conrad doesn’t have any children.
What is going on? (more…)
