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Minneapolis City Pages Review -Geography of Light
March 5th, 2008
by Rick Mason City Pages Minneapolis
Fervid spirituality haunts the songs of Carrie Newcomer; not the rigid doctrinaire lunacy of the rabid religious right, but a gentler rationalism that finds strength in pondering fundamental questions and celebrating ambiguities. In fact, the Indiana native spends most of her new-this-week album, The Geography of Light (Philo/Rounder), wandering the indistinct boundaries between light and dark, sound and silence, truth and lies. A Quaker, political progressive, and spiritual cartographer, Newcomer explores what she calls a map of shadows, sometimes finding a "mean kind of justice" but also proof that "there is a goodness on this earth that will not die." Newcomer's musing is deeply introspective, but she offers it with a poet's sense of nuance and a folkie's common touch, turning philosophical theory into the stuff of people's daily lives. She also connects with a strong melodic sense and richly toned voice, which has the dense, creamy texture of dark truffles. Although her mood is serious, it's rarely somber, crossing Appalachian folk with classical elements. And when she lightens up, she nearly breaks into a Cajun stomp and conjures up a jaunty rag. The Bob Westfall Trio, a Madison-based acoustic outfit apparently with jazzy inclinations, will back Newcomer and perform its own set. — Rick Mason