Black Heart Moon – Lovers and Makers

contributor: Mike Apinyakul – August 23, 2009

My first encounter with the new Black Heart Moon album, “Lovers and Makers”, was seeing hundreds of unfolded cardboard CD cases on their drying lines. The wind was blowing and they were shaking like odd little leaves. Catherine Odell and Perry Pfister are skilled screen printers, and their little outdoor garage/print studio is lovingly kept and well lived in. Over the next few hours, ink dried, friends rallied, CD cases were folded, discs were stuffed, and just like that, as if a meal had been cooked, Black Heart Moon released their album in their own backyard.

“Lovers and Makers” is a study in balanced tones. Catherine Odell’s guitar tone is a warm, vivid jangle, contrasting perfectly with David Dyas’ swooping lap steel, which I suspect is made of pure honey. At first, the songs flow almost too evenly, but underneath all that gentle layering are sophisticated and downright muscular arrangements. The fifth track, “Maybe Someday”, teases its builds and then gets down to business in the last minute of the song. This is where you hear Dan Galucki on drums and Perry Pfister on bass, a tight and tasteful rhythm section, unleash a bit. You also hear hints of what Odell’s voice can do when pushed. Her voice is pronounced, controlled, slightly smokey, and pleasant to listen to. Vocals are layered during crescendos, but I think she would do just fine with some old fashioned belting out. Lyrically, the imagery ranges from the fantastic “We’ll swing from the clouds as they pass by,” to the plain spoken intimacy of “Everybody’s gone, but you drank your way through the only one that loved you.” Black Heart Moon could easily be a completely acoustic band, sparse and wooden, something along the lines of Horsefeathers, for whom Catherine Odell is the cellist, but it’s their slight taste for electricity that makes their songs swell and and their tides high.

When listening to Black Heart Moon, you’re given the choice of focusing in lyrically, or just trancing out to the finely layered music. Ultimately, it’s a win win situation. I still haven’t been able to put my finger on it, but there is something vaguely 1950’s about Black Heart Moon. It could be the guitar tone, the drum sound, or the simple fact that after listening to it, I just feel so damn romantic.