Nicole Marxen : "Thorns"

Ms. Marxen occupies a very particular dark corner of music. It's goth adjacent. Perhaps even crossing the line, but she takes her place alongside the other host of sullen sirens who emerged around 2010.  Zola Jesus emerged from the "witch House" scene to give a gloomier take on pop music and was oddly followed by artists closer to folk,  like Chelsea Wolfe,  Marissa Nadler, and Emma Ruth Rundle, all of whom also had ties to metal. Nicole follows this path, leaning more in the direction of  Zola Jesus' post-apocalyptic brand of pop, as the orchestrated sonic crashes paint a background that feels more like a science from an  A-24 film, with beauty and chaos embraced in music. 

Marxen emerged from the weird shoe-gazing psychedelic glam of Midnight Opera. Her solo works still retain the dreamy qualities but it is met by a more ominous shadow. I have always said that the darker the music is the heavier it becomes, This can be felt in the chilling groove to "Blood of Mine".  The title track is possessed by a more ghostly atmosphere, though it haunts houses almost too similar to the ones Chelsea Wolf occupies. She distances herself from this with "Ride" which moves with a more rock energy, even if the traditional organic instrumentation is not in play. She does return to her ghostly upper register as the song progresses.

"Hang the Moon" hovers with an ambiance that would not have been out of place at the Bang Bang Bar in Twin Peaks.  The song does build in sonic intensity, though it's not going to get hooked into your head but might resurface amid your night terrors. There is a more minimalist arrangement for "Lullaby"  which is a fragile ballad of sorts. More Krautrock than folk. "Fever Dream"  works off a different drone, one that finds the sounds more layered in its slow burn. In fact, it is almost more of an interlude as the vocals that do eventually come in are just wailing in the background. "The Executioner" benefits from more deliberate drumming to balance out the atmosphere it builds up into, though the last song takes the rock elements a step further in 80s dark wave meets industrial-strength doom. I will give this album a 9, I enjoyed it as it creates the moods I seek out. 

pst361