Me & Ennui Are Friends, Baby (studio album) by Sarah Mary Chadwick

From Brad1770 04/06/2021 03:13

I’ve been following S.M.C’s solo releases for the past 3 years now and by any adjective you can find - bleak , harrowing, confrontational, oppressive - her work is not for everyone . However I keep finding myself being drawn back into her unique world of suffering and in fact for the 3rd successive year one of her releases has landed on my year end best album list (following ‘The Queen Who Stole The Sky’ 2019 & ‘Please Daddy’ 2020) If you like Joanna Newsom circa ‘The Milk-Eyed Mender’ with that craggy raggedy vocal instrument your most certainly going to dig the world of Sarah Mary Chadwick

From Mercury 02/14/2021 04:46

(Messy, dissonant, stripped down, at times amateurish, confessional as hell singer/songwriter album that made me emote and empathize intensely while also squirming from time to time beneath the direct and quite honest gaze of the songwriting. Brilliant, really.)

Well, yeah, this album is a bit weird, ain't it? This is mostly just Sarah Mary Chapman, a piano, some really untrained and just plain ugly at times vocal performances, and a whole friggin truckload of brutally direct and honest and heartbreaking and (occasionally) darkly funny poetic songwriting.

Despite how harsh and unforgiving the opening track is (and it is and I would be lying if I said I wasn't more than a bit uncomfortable) it manages to sink its claws in me within a couple minutes. There isn't something interesting happening melodically or harmonically, there is no nice hook, not really anything that specifically captures me and holds me. Its just the way she sings and plays and states what she states, there is no filter or, if there is, it is probably best that some filter exists cuz boy is this heavy. The detail with which she expresses her internal agony and emptiness from the jump is awe-inspiring. And it does indeed act as a clear indication of what this entire 42 minute album is.

If you like that Mount Eerie/Microphones directness and honesty and the feeling of just hearing what the artist is thinking off the top of their head, and if you like the childish intimacy of some Daniel Johnston, then you may like this. But, fair warning, there is also just as good a chance you'll despise this album in its ramshackle anti-charms and its claustrophobic "TMIness" and unflinching and unrelenting commitment to never giving you a pretty part or a break. Listen to track 1 and maybe 2 and if you notice you are empathizing with Sarah's voice and worldview, then listen to the rest. Its worth it for sure.