Even a seven-word
review can hit you if the words are right. The words were right and dealt with
the hugely uncomfortable art of Mary Hampton. The album was My Mother’s Children and the year was
2008.
My Mother’s Children was singular, deeply disturbing folk music that could
appear oddly appealing if you were in that kind of disturbed state of mood. Certainly
this was not an album to be played to a bunch of friends at a dinner party.
They wouldn’t understand and probably freak out during the strikingly
non-ballad-like “Ballad Of The Talking Dog”.
At the time when
bearded folkies were annoying you with their fake, washed-out confessionals,
this was the slightest waft of fresh air. And the cover, too, was either funny
or (more likely) bewildering. The record felt sparse and just plain wrong. But
reassuringly so. Then, three years later, along came Folly and the music was just as good and just as uncomfortable… Hopefully,
a new one is on the way.
