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(2022) Deer Scout - Woodpecker
Review:
The daughter of folk musicians, Dena Miller was a youngster when she began writing songs with a toy cassette machine, but she only started recording seriously as a college freshman, when she adopted the stage alias Deer Scout. Many fans were introduced to her gentle disposition and folk-inclined melodies with the minor viral hit “sad boy,” released in 2017. Arriving five years later, Woodpecker marks both her full-length and Carpark Records debut following a series of self-released and cassette-label EPs. It was recorded at Philadelphia’s So Big Auditory studio, with overdubs by Miller at home. One of the songs, “Peace with the Damage,” was written by her father, Mark Miller, and originally recorded by his band Spuyten Duyvil. A prior collaborator, he plays guitar on the album, which also includes contributions from drummer Madel Rafter, cellist Zuzia Weyman, and bassist Ko Takasugi-Czernowin, another previous Deer Scout collaborator. The rest of the songs and performances are all Dena’s, beginning with “Cup,” a subtly otherworldly entry with meandering guitar and basslines and double-tracked vocals that remark, “Oh what a strange love/You take the shape of” amidst its allusive lyrics. While there’s a song called “Cowboy,” it’s a different track, “Synesthesia,” that adopts a conspicuous country flair. Inspired by a train ride home from a basement show, the waltz’s yodel-styled melody delivers picturesque lyrics that reflect on both life and the scenery. Lighter touches of twang appear on songs including the somewhat ironically titled “Afterthought,” which takes on big topics like love, empathy, and higher beings with a circular folk melody over unexpectedly complex chord progressions. Elsewhere, “Breaking the Bad” ventures into heavier, electric timbres with a leaping vocal performance that establishes that Miller’s warm, youthful voice and way with words can command a stage as well as a living room.
Track List:
1.Cup 02:50
2.Cowboy 02:26
3.Synesthesia 01:59
4.Kat and Nina 01:43
5.Peace with the Damage 04:26
6.Dream 01:45
7.Breaking the Rock 04:12
8.Afterthought 02:43
Media Report:
Genre: indie-folk, indie-pop
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
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