Peer Review: Ludlow Ejacula, Bitter

Built on a simple, spacious acoustic foundation, the piece feels chantlike at first, or like a personal letter. The minimal instrumentation is a clue to pay attention to the lyrics-- bitter is an appropriate title given the content, though the delivery of the cutting phrases is anything but. The vocals are characteristic, presented with little processing. I am peeved by the epidemic habit of drowning a unique vocal in reverb to mask its edges; this was thankfully forgone in favor of a crisp and personal treatment of the performance. The delay/echo is a much more effective choice in this case, allowing a relatively breathless voice to expand and fill the spaces left by the simple guitar backing. The build is steady throughout, and while following a standard folk/pop structure, the development is patient without plodding. The electric guitar glides in exactly where I wanted it to, rounding out the high end and giving counterpoint to the vocal. The male backing vocals neither thrilled nor bothered me, but the doubling of the lead voice (a trick I usually love and often employ) really didn't seem necessary in this case. If I would change anything about this recording, I would leave it out-- I felt it muddied the provocative separateness, the personal delivery of the lyrics that drive the piece forward so successfully throughout.

By May Oskan
(read her review)