July 2024: Dessa on losing her voice, Chicago's feeble blues archives, and Charlie XCX vs. Lorde
Howdy!
As June came and went, I hadn’t found much of any music writing that was standing out. I thought, “Maybe this will be a month I don’t have anything to put in the newsletter.” But, of course, upon digging a bit deeper, I found plenty that stuck out to me from personal accounts of the physical toll of being a musician to well-crafted record reviews.
Dessa Describes Losing Her Voice
In my experience, the physicality of making music isn’t always front of mind unless it’s right in front of you - like seeing a sweat-soaked band breathing heavily at the end of their set, for example. I’ve been thinking it a lot as I learn to play piano and realize the limitations of my hands to stretch octaves and more.
Dessa, for the New York Times, goes into detail about how the deterioration of her voice and needing to take months-long vocal rest affected her life. Her spare, direct writing pulls no punches about the horror of possible losing something so close to you:
The prospect of not being able to sing anymore felt like contemplating an amputation.
She reaches a level of intimacy that is bracing and unobscured - like describing the awkwardness of having sex with her boyfriend, unable to make a sound - and, in doing so, has written something that lets us readers see clearly the toll music can take.
Chicago’s Missing Treasure
As a Chicago resident and Chicago lover, I am likely to provide you more Chicago-related content than other music journalism newsletters you subscribe to. I acknowledge it, but won’t apologize for it.
Chicago is one of the essential cradles of American music. It’s blues history is essential to the rise of rock and roll and more. Why does Chicago - outside of its Blues Festival - do more to celebrate and document its history permanently?
Hannah Edgar’s well-reported piece for the Chicago Reader reveals the sorry state of the Chicago Blues Archive, which I’m hesitant to even capitalize given how disorganized it is.
Having previously lived in DC and been a fan of how its library system has documented Go-Go and Punk, it’s a shame that Chicago’s blues musicians and community has little in the way of archiving. While the details may not surprise you - limited resources, copyright issues, and just an overwhelming task - reading will hopefully spark some momentum going forward.
The Art of the Review
When I am struggling to find good music writing, I go searching for album reviews. These are how music writers often get their start, but they are also some of the most challenging pieces to write. Describing music is a minefield of clichés and great reviews often require a deep expertise in both music history and music theory, things that must be developed over time. So I really cherish when I read well-crafted reviews.
All of those challenges are magnified when writing a review of an experimental album. I was struck David Murrieta Flores’s review of Zosha Warpeha’s silver dawn for the blog A Closer Look. He does a really deft job of weaving together some history of Norwegian folk tradition, clear descriptions of the music, and analysis of how Warpeha breaks new ground all in just four paragraphs.
Warpeha moves deliberately, slowly, through each note, so as to guide us through the creation of beautiful harmonics, each sound and its echo given room to develop at once.
The final line is killer as well.
Another that stood out this month is Meaghan Garvey’s review of Charlie XCX’s phenomenal BRAT for Pitchfork. She does an incredible job of placing this music in context (with just enough of the gossip to inform the reader, but not drown them) and pulling out the themes. By teaching me how this album represents real growth for Charlie XCX, it greatly increased my appreciation for BRAT.
Related, I also found NPR’s Brittany Luse, Hazel Cills, and DJ Louie XIV’s discussion of Charlie XCX and Lorde’s “feud” on the "Girl, so confusing" remix enlightening. Their roundtable happens for the first 10 minutes or so and is worth a listen.
Thank you for reading!
Justin Anderson-Weber
