As a youngin' we were church goin' folk for a minute. And it was in the church where I first learned that music is not only meant to be heard, but FELT. My providers of enlightenment in this department were always women. No disrespect to the fellas, whom I admired and often wanted to be, but it was often the women in the choir or congregation who took it there. "To church", if you will. You'd go from joy to concern to sadness to joy to redemption, often over the course of one song. I wept with those women. I felt for those women. I wanted a light at the end of a tunnel and redemption for those women, cause to my young eyes, ears, and soul each and everytime, what those women were expressing was real. All this from a vocal/musical performance. She/Them and I, She/Them and US, connected, by the sheer emotional virtuoso performance laid bare before our eyes.
That's the reason why they say 'Take em to church' when someone is getting it on the vocal tip within a song. Make them feel it too...
A lot of us like The Idler Wheel for a variety of reasons, but what many of us I believe love most about it is its naked honesty and emotional fearlessness. There's a tendency in us to pout and let it be. There's a tendency in us to try to come off as stronger than we really are. There's a tendency in us to not see it both ways. There's a tendency in us to do this, and to do that. Rarely is there a tendency in us to consistently let our guard down and just exist. Be real. This too is normal.
And if this is the only life we get to lead, and the only body we get to inhabit, why the fuck not? This is what I hear in The Idler Wheel. Amongst the damn near academic love of words, language, and musical composition is a women making a go of it the best way she knows how: by being herself, which yes, may include some road bumps and mistakes along the way. This freedom from others' judgement and ability to sit in an empty room and think is what grants Fiona the permission and opportunity to 'take it there', 'Take us to 'church'. On the subject of love, and on the subject of self. Fiona goes from joy to concern to sadness to joy to redemption (and back again) throughout the course of the album, often in the course of one song.
(Or chorus. Please peep the pre-chorus and chorus for Regret. The most brilliantly fearless/awkward/no holds barred vocal turn of 2012. Hands down).
I weep with Fiona. I feel for for Fiona. I want a light at the end of a tunnel and redemption for Fiona, because what she is expressing is real. All laid bare. And there's beauty in the imperfections here on The Idler Wheel. Naked honesty and emotional fearlessness taken there, to which I can't help but latch onto and feel connected.
Church.
KEY TRACKS: Valentine/Werewolf/Regret
04/Miguel/Kaleidoscope Dream
05/Kendrick Lamar/Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City
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