Shotgun Singer

Kris Delmhorst's stunning new album Shotgun Singer began as an act of solitary creation. Holed up in a rural cabin with minimal recording gear and a houseful of instruments, Delmhorst recorded her new songs alone, in layers of intimate vocals which she combined with electric and nylon guitars, cellos, keyboards, loops and percussion. With the core of each song thus established, she brought in a diverse cast of players to add sparse backing lines of drums, keys, guitar and vinyl-based samples, and enlisted co-producer Sam Kassirer in arrangement and mixing. The result is a collection of songs fully realized and even lush at times, but retaining a hushed intensity, a spirit of lo-fi intimacy and unhurried exploration. Adventurous, elegant, lucid and haunting, the record is the work of a seasoned musician who has found a musical language, a means of expression, equal to her vision.