Natalie Merchant’s beloved voice illuminates her 26-track album, Leave Your Sleep, yet the poetic lullaby songs emit sleepy fairy dust and heavy eyes.
It is no wonder the album was deemed a project about celebrating childhood, since Merchant’s poetically influenced songs were intended to be in a lullaby album. Merchant found her inspiration from 50 poems she read to her daughter during the infantile years of motherhood.
While her catchy songs “Carnival” and “Wonder” from her Tigerlily 1995 release complement her beautiful vocals, her new release passively entrances listeners. Influenced by 19th and 20th century American and British poetry, the gentle, nurturing undertones rooted in many of her songs elicit a calm ambiance. The soothing songs create a timeless feel, luring listeners into the 1800 and early 1900 time periods. In the orchestral folk track, “Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience,” the lyrics’ symmetrical and playful nature embody the genuine essence of a lullaby.
“I had a silver penny/ And an apricot tree/ And I said to the sailor/ On the white quay/ Sailor O sailor/ Will you bring me/ If I give you my penny/ And my apricot tree.”
Her album carries the trend of balladry, telling narratives within the songs by referencing fantasy, nonsense and tall tales.
While her album generates a whimsical feel, Merchant also touches on war and death in her tracks. One of her gloomy songs, “If No One Ever Marries Me,” transcends time and fills the room with the soft vibrations of guitar strings. The melancholy, yet hopeful message of the song creates a rush of calm, void of worries.
“If no one ever marries me/ I shan’t mind very much/ I shall buy a squirrel in a cage/ And a little rabbit-hutch.” The lyrics in this song offer optimism in a dismal scenario.
The poetry is seamless, celebrating the literary works of Ogden Nash, Robert Louis Stevenson, E.E. Cummings, Mother Goose and others. Merchant collaborated with more than 100 artists such as the Wynton Marsalis Quartet, Medeski, Martin and Wood, The Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, The Klexmatics and members of the New York Philharmonic to produce her pacifying masterpiece.
While some of the lovely, delicate songs would be prime for yoga, “Bleezer’s Ice-Cream,” flirts playfully with the listener. The combination of the saxophone, guitar and piano create a contemporary classical piece, dripping with flavor. The descriptive ice cream flavors in the lyrics activate the salivary glands, making song itself appetizing.
Merchant’s song, “Adventures of Isabel,” gives power to Natalie’s voice, with its upbeat flair and camp song rhythm. It is one of her light-hearted songs that can wake listeners up from the induced slumber of her remaining tracks.
A quality piece of art, Merchant’s album is far from mainstream. She should be applauded for her versatile production, which features diverse styles of music. Not only capturing the time of spiritual blues, she also delivers songs with chamber pop, bluegrass, psych-pop and Klezmer folk. The lyrics are majestic, crafty and appropriate for a narrow audience, and her voice is beautiful in every one of her tracks. As Leave Your Sleep is primarily suitable for bedtime, the front of the CD case should say, “Warning: May Cause Drowsiness.”
Despite her snooze-evoking piece of work, Merchant proves in her fifth solo album that her vocals are as pristine as ever. However, drifting into slumber may feel cumbersome in college, which makes Leave Your Sleep an optimal candidate for a relaxing dose of music. When finals come around and the tension creeps up, hit the play button to transcend back to a calmer time in life, back to the time of lullabies and fairytales.
3 stars out of 5.
