| Mary Lorson & the Soubrettes – BurnBabyBurn (2011) |
Mary Lorson & the Soubrettes – BurnBabyBurn
Location: Ithaka, New York, USA
Album release: August 31, 2011
Record Label: independent / Kora // Members:
Mary Lorson - Lead vocals, electric guitar, piano, acoustic guitar, harmonica
Leah Houghtaling - backup vocals, banjo, tenor guitar
Amelia Sauter - backup vocals, upright bass
Walt Lorenzut - drums and percussion
"BurnBabyBurn" is the tenth full-length release from former Madder Rose and Saint Low frontwoman Mary Lorson. With her current outfit The Soubrettes, (Leah Houghtaling on banjo and Amelia Sauter on standup bass), Lorson gets to reference her indie rock roots and classic songwriter influences while making new stylistic explorations into vintage Americana.
Website: http://www.marylorson.com/
Press contact: marylorson@yahoo.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/89558906
Bandcamp: http://marylorsonandthesoubrettes.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Lorson-and-the-Soubrettes/176157289103806
Mary Lorson is an American singer-songwriter and composer. Perhaps best known for her time as the lead singer of Alternative Pop group Madder Rose, Lorson founded the group Mary Lorson and Saint Low in 1999, and that group released three full-length discs. Lorson and Billy Coté created the original score for "What Remains: The Life and Art of Sally Mann" for Steven Cantor and HBO. She and Coté have a son, Roman. Lorson has been commissioned to create original music for the Cornell University Dance Department, the Ithaca Motion Picture Project, FLEFF, and other arts organizations. A breast cancer survivor and high school English teacher in Ithaca, New York, Lorson currently fronts the group Mary Lorson and the Soubrettes, a vintage-inspired ensemble channeling the music for Lorson's original play about Eva Tanguay, "Freak Baby and the Kill Thought."
Discography:
With Mary Lorson & the Soubrettes:
"BurnBabyBurn" 2011
With The Piano Creeps:
"Future Blues (for me and you)," 2008
Compilations & TV/Film Placements:
"Chamber Music," (36 artists interpret James Joyce's epic poem) 2008
"You Remember," (Madder Rose) placed on "The Sopranos" 2007
songs placed in "Alias," "Skins," "Six Degrees," "My So-Called Life," "Felicity," "Nordkraft" various MTV shows
"Ultra Anxiety" (Madder Rose) in "Mad Love" 1995 (directed by Antonia Bird)
With Mary Lorson & Saint Low:
Realistic, 2006 (as Mary Lorson & Saint Low)
Tricks for Dawn, 2002 (as Mary Lorson & Saint Low)
Saint Low, 2000
With Billy Coté:
"What Remains" original score, 2007
"Barrier Device" original score, 2004
Piano Creeps, 2003
"Two Left Shoes," 2003
With Madder Rose:
Bring It Down, 1993
Panic On, 1994
The Love You Save, (EP) 1995
Tragic Magic, 1997
Hello June Fool, 1999 / Description:
Mary Lorson of course has some previous, staring with Madder Rose’s indie-pop, through the excellent Saint Low and then onto soundtracks, her work has gradually loosened from the generic to something more experimental. On this record she collaborates with Amelia Sauter and Leah Houghtaling, they allow her space to explore the nooks and crannies of the songs rather than take more obvious paths. ‘Mancub’ with its bah dah backing vocals and trembling organ feathering the nest beautifully for Lorson’s voice, it is as close to instant as this record gets. There are enough little hooks and sticky melodies so that the songs do stay around after they’ve finished. The songs are uniformly excellent at creating an atmosphere; ‘BurnBabyBurn’ starts with the breaking dawn…, winningly portrayed by piano, bass and drums. Listening to ‘Only One Mumber 2’ made me think of the songs as perfectly pressed flowers with all the details carefully preserved. The vibrant colours had faded, nonetheless the beauty remained and enhanced by the preservation. The muted cry of horns brings a different shade to ‘Bubble of Pretend’ when the organ, piano and bass lock into a mechanical groove the songs begins to twirl as though it is a marionette pirouetting as gracefully as any human could. The record closes with an old Vaudeville song ‘I Don’t Care’ performed with both reverence and mischief (Lorson is writing a musical based on the life of Vaudeville performer Eva Tanguay). Some of the songs toward the end are less well defined than we are used to from Lorson, the record follows the same arc as her career opening as it does with ‘Busboy’ which provides the sumptuous harmonies and chattering piano that we might expect from her. Lorson is always worth listening to and this record is no exception from that rule.
Photo: Tom Gorman / 2005
Tracklist:
01. Busboy [3:08]
02. Mancub [4:04]
03. Lately [5:17]
04. River [3:16]
05. Bubble of Pretend [3:36]
06. BurnBabyBurn [4:22]
07. Crystal Ball [2:46]
08. Only One Number 2 [4:02]
09. These Police [3:33]
10. Let ‘em Eat Little Debbie Cakes [4:23]
11. I Don’t Care [4:27]
Photo by Billy Cote / 2006
Guesting with LastTownChorus at Sin / 2004
Saint Low circa 1999
Mary and Billy get married / May 2005
Boogie Shakedown, 2006
| Mary Lorson & the Soubrettes – BurnBabyBurn (2011) |