LAMBCHOP
Is A Woman (Merge) Rating:
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Having gradually refined the concept of a country orchestra over a handful of records, Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner cleans the slate on the gorgeous Is A Woman. Featuring the world’s quietest 15-piece band, Is A Woman is stunning in its restraint. The swinging full-band epics of the past have been ditched in place of a drastically pared-down sound that places solo piano or guitar at the centre of the mix. The band is then used to colour Wagner’s back-porch sketches with tasteful hints of piano, vibes, a choir that floats in like a ghostly radio broadcast and a saxophone that lurks in the background. It’s a breathtaking shift in tack, and the closest thing to a proper orchestra that Wagner’s achieved to date, country or not.MG