Something you don’t see much of anymore is an album that fills multiple roles, not just as something to listen to but also an accompaniment to a theatre presentation or as a scripted performance piece. San Franciscan Rachel Garlin has gone down that road with her new record, The Ballad of Madelyne & Therese. Besides its album release cycle it’s also a one person theatrical show that’s played in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Ostensibly it’s a fictional tale of two female lovers in 1940’s New York, a time when tolerance for things outside the norm took a backseat to the psychology of wartime America.
The flag-bearer for the story is Please Therese, an upbeat, popish number full of the double entendres used to describe lesbian interest. Madelyne Why is a moodier sounding story about a woman’s day at the beach. As perhaps a precursor to the main story, Having Slept On It is a power pop monster about analysis and decision made in the throes of insomnia. It’s one of several songs featuring woodwinds as an additional texture, without the sonic brassiness of horns. Never Cabaret, while seamlessly fitting into the main theme, is actually a ballad inspired by story from Patti Smiths’ book, Year of the Monkey.
As someone with color synesthesia, Garlin has embraced it on a couple of pieces. Yellow explores its shades, “yellow darkness, yellow light, yellow-bellied river” in a folk ballad beautifully accentuated with flute. Melancholy Blue fulfills its musical style just as you would imagine, as it explores self doubt, “auditing myself anew, what’s my internal revenue.” That moodiness, in many guises, permeates the entire record. My favorite is Night Time, a celebration tempered by self-awareness that “we’re all driven by something, if we’re lucky we’re inspired.” Speak is another folk song, almost a protest song, that oozes scorn and rage at a lover not being truthful.
While many recording projects deliver a variety of musical styles and a spectrum of lyrical topics, I find it rare that one can also convey a wide range of emotional sentiments. That’s maybe why this seems so natural for a theatrical performance, mirroring the ups and downs of everyday life. Regardless, Rachel Garlin packs a passionate punch into an array of feelings, all set to an easily enjoyed soundtrack. It’s worth sitting down, tuning out the distractions, and letting The Ballad of Madelyne & Therese wash over you.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.