Review Summary: 2013's sleeper hit is the stunning musical expression of the wonderfully imaginative and ridiculously talented Aly Spaltro
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper is 24-year old Brunswick, Maine native Aly Spaltro's stage name. After having experimented and tweaked her musical craft for years at the end of shifts in the backroom of her local DVD store we are given the aural tour de force that is Ripely Pine. And the gamut of musical styles that she delves into on this album is more than impressive; its stunning, and its like listening to a collection of folk/americana/rock and roll/blues/jazz and pop hits except from a single artist. Its a show of daring and ambition that is so sorely lacking in today's music where a safe, radio-friendly, conformist approach to creating music seems to be the desired norm.
Further, Ripely Pine is the visceral wake-up call that the new generation of singer-songwriters should take note of, for its the patient 4-year result of hours upon hours of meticulous and committed song-writing and recording. In a time where anyone can download a recording software online and begin their musical endeavor from the comfort of their home, Spaltro's approach is not only desperately refreshing; there is a healthy dose of rawness that is so noticeably evident on more stripped-down tracks such as "Florence Berlin" and "Little Brother" where her weathered vocals sound like they're played live 10-feet away from you. Her work ethos is one that is slowly being eroded due to the ease in which new artistes can create music these days but its rawness ensures that it doesn't sound too overtly complex or difficult; ironically a meticulously structured simplicity that is little short of brilliant.
Apart from Spaltro's work mantra is her unique song-writing ability itself. While Ripely Pine touches on topics that you would probably find in some mid to late teenage girl's diary, they are lyrically written with the kind of vivid, grotesque and surreal visual imagery that comes with poetry rather than contemporary music (I wouldn't be surprised if "Beekeeper" from her stage name is a reference to Sylvia Plath). A section from the track "Crane Your Neck" shows this well:
But there's a hunger under my skin and its gripping at my bones
There's a hunger like a lion's and it's ripping right through my bones
So I push my limbs all forward like a tree does in a storm
And I walk across the kitchen and I lean against the window
I'm as calm as a baby lamb that is being led
I'm as blue as blood before the blood goes red
Truly, intensely and beautifully written stuff indeed.
However, of all the positive things I could rave on about Spaltro and Ripely Pine, I think the most essential one for me would have to be her vocal delivery. And it is quite remarkable, for Spaltro has this uncanny ability to be ever so fearless and passionate while she sings, which effectively sparks her tales of heartbreak and obsession with the throbs and throngs of life. At times she strains till her vocal chords break as on "Crane Your Neck," at times she mimics her lyrics such as when she sharply draws her breath on "Bird Balloons;" and the manner in which she repeatedly delivers the lines "I still need your teeth 'round my organs" towards the ending of "You Are The Apple" is undeniably terrifying and yet so brutally sincere and real as well. This is no longer just a 24-year old lady singing into a microphone; this is performance in every sense of the word, of delivery and rendition with every measly fiber of her being and of the metaphoric baring of her soul through her art. There aren't many artists out there today who have the talent and the imagination to create what Spaltro has done on Ripely Pine and yet the scariest thing about it is that once you finish listening to the album, you still come off with the sense that she can still become so, so much better. Ripely Pine is where Spaltro first dips her feet into the professional music world, and I can't wait to see what she has to offer next.
