(2020) Allegra Krieger - The Joys of Forgetting


Review:
Allegra Krieger puts her best foot forward on debut album The Joys of Forgetting. Opener “The Push and the Pull” alternates between chugging verses and a hesitant, reflective chorus, Krieger’s voice moving from a husky conversational tone into a shimmering, glassy register as she sings, “How beautiful, the push and the pull of the human race.” The snare drops out, pulling focus on Krieger and her acoustic guitar, while the verses offer up delicate Mellotron strains and electric guitar phrases that really catch the ear. It’s a fantastic song, whetting the appetite for what follows. The unusual string arrangements on “Welcome” bring to mind Robert Kirby’s stellar work on Nick Drake’s first two albums, weaving a throughline between Krieger’s twanging vocal and the tumbling, stop–start drums. The droning guitar and devotional lyrics of “Forgot” sound desperate and sombre until a winking cowbell casts doubt on whether Krieger’s words and feelings match up; the yowling climax makes the result of her self-neglect painfully clear. Stomping single “Rot” follows, confidently clearing the air, coming across like Big Thief, or Sharon Van Etten circa Tramp. The lyrics here are especially good: “So give a little, take a lot / And live out your days like some sanctified parasite / And when your empire begins to rot / Return to the earth without a question, without a thought.” Speaking of Big Thief, the spare, pretty “Every Once in a While” is a late highlight, reminiscent of Adrianne Lenker’s solo work. Though Krieger and producer Adam Schatz have clearly set the bar high on this polished 40-minute set, the more compelling songs tend to be those fleshed out with tasteful instrumentation, allowing Krieger’s core band — Jacob Matheus on electric guitar, Rob Taylor on bass, and Eladio Rojas on drums — to elegantly weave around her. The arrangements feel like natural extensions of the songs, rather than parts superimposed on top.





Tracklist:



Media Report:
Genre: indie-folk
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits