Marjorie Fair
Self Help Serenade

THE REVIEW

I walked into my trusted store, many years ago: it had a truly prestigious stereo system.   Sometimes deceiving. You might listen, buy, go home, and the record wasn't as great as it seemed... It was probably the acoustics of the place. So, that time when he placed (yes, there was still a turntable: it's been a long time ago) this 2004 debut by Marjorie Fair on the platter, I knew I might have to take it with a grain of salt. But the opening of the first track had a heart-wrenching beauty to it.. There wasn't much to think about. I bought it and brought it home. Well, I still consider that acoustic intro as one of the most exciting, even centuries later. It was Don't Believe.

Marjorie Fair led by Evan Slamka were a meteor: their first album remained their last. I don't know if they were successful, but that's not the point. What remains is their rare ability to express the feeling of melancholy in a thousand gradations and shades. Often using the ballad style,  even in the quirky ways of Hold on to you, a bit country and a bit Bacharach. With some genuine gems: the solid Waves, bass, drums, guitar, and off you go traveling at unusually high speeds, holding on to the handrail of life not to fall... the dreamy Please Don't, acoustic, voice, delicacy, and so much, so much melancholy.. and the concluding My Sun Is Setting Over Her Magic, the epitome of what Marjorie Fair was.

I hope to make someone happy.

See you soon.