Marissa Nadler Returns w/New Rec

Fourth studio album due March 3 from Kemado.

By Blurt Staff

Back when BLURT was just a little ol' print magazine called Harp we enthusiastically sang the praises of Boston songbird Marissa Nadler, who at the time had recently seem a full US release of her album Songs III: Bird on the Water by the Kemado label. Now comes word that Kemado is set to drop Nadler's fourth record on March 3.

Titled Little Hells, it's described by the label as demonstrating Nadler's unique ability to "envelop the listener in splendid gauzy moods without becoming monochromatic."

Adds Nadler, "The songs take on different personalities at different points in time. If a song is good, you should be able to do it in any style and transform it, take a risk and have some fun."

Well, all right then. And Nadler has always operated without a net, which is perhaps why she has been steadily expanding her fanbase even as she continues to test herself and her art. Here's the scoop, from the label:

A master of creating rich dreamscape atmospheres, Nadler's voice shines and glides even more with a full band accompanying her. Produced by Chris Coady, the starry musical guests include longtime collaborator Myles Baer, Simone Pace (Blonde Redhead), and Dave Scher (Farmer Dave).  Few contemporary artists can match the stunning ride of Marissa's reverb vocals that are a journey into themselves on every rose tinged track. Little Hells displays a brighter leap in musical maturity and attention to detail, as the fantasmagoric sounds delve into melancholy nuggets, sometimes erotic, sometimes gutting, but filled with a gorgeous sense of serene hope more so than previous album, Songs III: Bird on the Water.

Building on her hazy sonic foundations, Nadler ventures into territory as varied as the Brill Building-tinged pulse of Mary Come Alive and the title tracks old-time country loam -- a trek tha'ts both breathtakingly scenic and psychically compelling. Sadness can be found in the undercurrents of Little Hells, to be sure. But there are just as many moments of serene reflection and quiet contentment in pleasures as simple as the warmth of the sun or the scent of flowers -- the latter of which permeates several of the new albums offerings. That mixing of tones affords Little Hells both delicacy and strength -- a balance that, it might be said, exists in Marissa Nadler herself.