I’m not usually a sucker for “pretty” music. I also don’t conventionally go for music with “raw” vocals and lyrics. And oddly enough, these two styles rarely ever intersect, despite the fact they would seem to lend themselves to one another rather intuitively. Maybe that’s why I’m so smitten with just such an intersection here in Lisa Germano’s delicately exquisite Lullaby for Liquid Pig. It’s the marriage of ethereal orchestrations and the requisite humanity that only starkly naked vocals can bring. And all from a John “Cougar” Mellencamp protégé.
Conventionally a violinist, Germano struck out on her own to make the dream pop that you’ll find here and, in the process, discovered she had a striking and earnest voice. On Lullaby for Liquid Pig, the music is almost uniformly gloomy, and her voice acquiesces to being likewise melancholy. In the song “Pearls,” what sounds like a blemished music box accompanies her vocals, and then joins with piano and electronic swells to bully her into a corner of agony. But in her singing, she fights back and commands the backing to follow her lead. Albeit, to the lyrics “Hate will grow into blossoms of 'No,' take you lower than low / Hate will grow into someone you know, it feels good to be home.” Melancholy, but not without hope; the knowing cynicism that there is hope, but nothing escapes the taint. The listener isn’t invited to grovel with Germano; her voice makes it clear that she is well acquainted with her demons and will grapple with them on her own. But you’re free to watch. The album is best described as the musings of one who, as she puts it, “Took the dream glasses off, saw again.” One of the most enchantingly beautiful albums I’ve heard. In the end, Germano reminds us “There is love to be found with the gods all gone,” and we believe her.
1. Nobody's Playing
2. Paper Doll
3. Liquid Pig
4. Pearls
5. Candy
6. Dream Glasses Off
7. From a Shell
8. It's Party Time
9. All the Pretty Lies
10. Lullaby for Liquid Pig
11. Into the Night
12. ....to Dream
1. Nobody's Playing
2. Paper Doll
3. Liquid Pig
4. Pearls
5. Candy
6. Dream Glasses Off
7. From a Shell
8. It's Party Time
9. All the Pretty Lies
10. Lullaby for Liquid Pig
11. Into the Night
12. ....to Dream
More about: Lisa Germano
