The Fat Angel Sings

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Wilder Maker’s 2013 record  “Year Of Endless Light” was a vivid tribute to a specific slice of the American songbook: the singer/songwriter years of the 1970s and the folk-rock boom of the years just before. Gabriel Birnbaum, the creative moving force behind the project, sang in a wry voice channeled wisps of Robbie Robertson and hints of Randy Newman. The new EP is altogether stranger and moodier, the rhythms have started to blur in front of our eyes: “The beast is screaming, my heart is screaming, the sky is screaming, God is fast asleep and the bottle ain’t no good,” he sings on “Zion,” a fair asessement of the EP’s tone, while a drum and tambourine mark out a small, bewildering dance of counter rhythms. This is lovely music, finely detailed and plush, easy to warm up to, but then the delight of sharp nettles beneath keeps you picking away at it.