Some might see being introspective and in awe of fragility as something of a failing but, with sincerity firmly on her side, Canada’s Lindsay Kupser proves that all that is sensitive need not be the result of spiralling self-obsession.
Her mini album “Quiet Songs” is just that and, should you listen without benefit of the intimacy of headphones, you might perhaps fail to attach much in the way of significance to what you have heard as Ms. Kupser never forces her point yet, fortunately, she never actually loses the focus in any of these five songs. It is true, however, that she sometimes drifts around the point but that is her style as if she somehow fears that her words would gain unnatural power within the structure of a more complex musical arrangement.
Her sensitivity to the matter of insecurity is, however, not in question and her appealing naturalistic delivery of “All My Bones Broke On Thursday Evening” hides words filled with insightful observation. “It’s My Turn” is a song so seemingly lightweight that it might fly away upon the breeze and yet the lyrics speak so strongly of the desire to live life that sadness instead becomes its wings and even the unforced sentimentality of “Tough on Country” is coloured more in sepia than pink.
“Quiet Songs” is an album well named. Immediate impact is traded for a message of honest reflection that verges on the spiritual. The first time I played this album I didn’t even notice that but, as any road worth travelling is worth travelling twice, the journey was duly made again. Bear that in mind when you listen.
Available from Bandcamp.