ANTJE DUVEKOT
The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer
Black Wolf Records 006
Antje Duvekot is one of the hottest acts in contemporary acoustic music and if you’ve not heard her recently the song “Long Way” confirms that has indeed traveled a long distance from her Little Peppermints debut back in 2002. The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer would get my vote for best record of 2009 were it not topped by a release from her producer, Richard Shindell. His fingerprints are all over Near Demise—it is moody, introspective, dark, and exquisitely crafted. Dukevot goes into character for this album; she’s a tightrope walker wobbling on a life’s thin wire. “Vertigo” is about the giddy heights and frightening depths of relationships, “with no safety net when I fall right out of the sky,” a precariousness she echoes on “Reasonland,” when she calls herself a “tired tightrope walker.” The latter is the album’s most-beautiful offering, one so fragile that it’s hard to say if it’s a song about healing or if it’s a pathos-laden dreamscape. On “Lighthouse” the namesake structure is the only thing that remains solid on a sea of sentiment whose waters have evaporated. “Long Way” gets the classic Shindell treatment—a double-edged song whose geographical journey is mere backdrop for an amble into self-discovery and the emotional unknown. Duvekot’s nasal tones are toned down and bathed in enough atmosphere and control to come off as a cross between Patty Griffin’s tones and Kate Rusby’s gentleness. With guest performances from artistes such as Shindell, Mark Erelli, John Gorka, and Lucy Kaplansky, how could Dukevot not make across the wire? Take a bow, Antje.
The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer
Black Wolf Records 006
Antje Duvekot is one of the hottest acts in contemporary acoustic music and if you’ve not heard her recently the song “Long Way” confirms that has indeed traveled a long distance from her Little Peppermints debut back in 2002. The Near Demise of the High Wire Dancer would get my vote for best record of 2009 were it not topped by a release from her producer, Richard Shindell. His fingerprints are all over Near Demise—it is moody, introspective, dark, and exquisitely crafted. Dukevot goes into character for this album; she’s a tightrope walker wobbling on a life’s thin wire. “Vertigo” is about the giddy heights and frightening depths of relationships, “with no safety net when I fall right out of the sky,” a precariousness she echoes on “Reasonland,” when she calls herself a “tired tightrope walker.” The latter is the album’s most-beautiful offering, one so fragile that it’s hard to say if it’s a song about healing or if it’s a pathos-laden dreamscape. On “Lighthouse” the namesake structure is the only thing that remains solid on a sea of sentiment whose waters have evaporated. “Long Way” gets the classic Shindell treatment—a double-edged song whose geographical journey is mere backdrop for an amble into self-discovery and the emotional unknown. Duvekot’s nasal tones are toned down and bathed in enough atmosphere and control to come off as a cross between Patty Griffin’s tones and Kate Rusby’s gentleness. With guest performances from artistes such as Shindell, Mark Erelli, John Gorka, and Lucy Kaplansky, how could Dukevot not make across the wire? Take a bow, Antje.
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