#134: Alyssa Kai Lets Go on 'gatheringdust'
Plus, Connecticut folk-pop duo Carlyle release their debut single
This week in Freak Scene, Greenfield’s Alyssa Kai is back with her first album since 2016, while former members of Waking Elliot are back with a new project they’re calling Carlyle.
Alyssa Kai describes her new LP gatheringdust as “mostly about resentment and chronic illness,” and those are certainly themes that carry through the Greenfield singer and songwriter’s first solo album in a decade (she has also compiled a long list of contributions to other people’s records). Yet Kai is not engaged merely in a recitation of grudges on these 11 songs. More like she’s unburdening herself, letting go of the emotions that weren’t serving her to make room for a different outlook.
It's a bare-bones collection of songs that find the middle ground between folk and bedroom pop, consisting mostly of Kai’s voice and acoustic guitar. There are flourishes here and there: glimmers of electric piano on “the dream,” electric slide guitar licks on “blood draw” or the light touch of brushes on a snare drum on “black hole baby.” Kai is a conversational singer, in much the same way as John Darnielle on early Mountain Goats songs, and they have a similar way with a melody. Kai inhabits an aloneness on “i kill moths,” the jaunty acoustic guitar and gleaming Fender Rhodes keyboard sound contrasting with her lyrics. She fingerpicks a somber pattern on acoustic guitar on blood draw,” singing in hushed tones about a futile search for answers about her health.
Though it’s one of the simpler tracks on gatheringdust, “january love song” is essentially the centerpiece of the album. Kai’s vocal melody carries the track as she patiently explains why love, and also death, won’t save anyone who doesn’t want saving. It’s about as romantically bleak as a song can get, but Kai sings it with a quietly revelatory sensibility, as if the realizations she’s singing about are what helped her move beyond dire emotional circumstances into a heathier frame of mind.
Carlyle Find a Connection on ‘All of My Time’
After playing together in the Manchester rock band Waking Elliot in the early 2010s, Mary Bieler and Allyson Forstrom are back in a new carnation as Carlyle. The Connecticut folk-pop duo last week released their first single, “All of My Time.” It’s a song about serendipity: finding a connection in a random universe and knowing that it’s just what you were supposed to find.
Bieler and Forstrom sing gorgeous harmonies on the track, with Bieler on ukulele and Forstrom on piano. The song starts simple and stripped down and builds into a fuller arrangement with help from members of Bridgeport roots-rockers the Alternate Routes: Eric Donnelly played guitar, bass and mandolin, while Kurt Leon added percussion and also produced the track. Carlyle recorded “All of My Time” at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, where acts including the National, Interpol, Frightened Rabbit and Mates of State have made first-class albums.
Forstrom says Carlyle have more music on the way, and the duo performs Sept. 12 from noon-1 p.m. at Porchfest in Stonington and Sept. 20 at the Mystic Garlic Fest.
Upcoming Concerts
Fantastic Cat return to the Iron Horse in Northampton for a pair of shows Dec. 29-30 (tickets here and here). NRBQ are there Jan. 1-2 (tickets here and here).
Bombyx in Florence presents Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser Oct. 7 (tickets).
The Drake hosts a solo show by Jeffrey Lewis Oct. 10 (tickets), American Idol finalist Jack Blocker Nov. 15 (tickets) and Italian singer Maria Mazzotta Dec. 3 (tickets).
The third-annual QueerCore Fest comes to the Blue Room at CitySpace in Easthampton Sept. 18-19 (tickets). Also coming: Boston alt-folk duo Sweet Petunia Oct. 9 with Hoonah (tickets), a Secret Planet show featuring Mehrnam Rastegari Nov. 22 (tickets) and an album release show by Amherst rocker Scott Hsu Dec. 12 (tickets).
Hope Center for the Arts in Springfield presents a New Orleans funk celebration Nov. 6 with Water Seed with Eric Falls, Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr., Corey Henry and Sean Ardoin (tickets), guitarist Jesse Cook Nov. 7 (tickets) and Judy Collins on her farewell tour Nov. 8 (tickets).
De la Luz in Holyoke hosts Cajun musician Cedric Watson Oct. 4 (tickets), Celtic band Reverie Road Oct. 6 (tickets), instrumental trio Basic Oct. 10 (tickets), Blind Boys of Alabama Oct. 20 (tickets), Dervish Nov. 6 (tickets) and Madre Cumbia — Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto, Fruko and Carmelo Torres — Nov. 13 (tickets).
The Marigold Theater in Easthampton has Soul Keys Sept. 12 (free) and blues-rockers Ottomatic Slim & the Sins Sept. 19 (free).
They Might Be Giants ring in the new year with Jonathan Coulton Dec. 31 show at College Street Music Hall in New Haven (tickets).
The Shinolas play a get out the vote set Oct. 19 at Infinity Music Hall in Hartford, with Jon Pousette-Dart, Christine Ohlman, Nadia Sims, Bap Pack, Cliff Eberhardt, Erica Tracy and Riley Cotton, among others (tickets).
Stone Church in Brattleboro has JP Harris' Dreadful Wind & Rain Nov. 6 (tickets), the singer and songwriter John Splithoff Nov. 7 (tickets) and the Jamaican harmonic trio the Meditations Jan. 29 (tickets).
That’s about it for this week. Thank you for reading! Previous issues are available in the online archive. Freak Scene is free, but donations help make this happen and are gratefully accepted. If you’re able, please consider a paid subscription!
This Week’s Concerts
The full concert calendar is available here for paid subscribers.
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