WATCH THE SKY - PATTY LARKIN
Patty Larkin has spent part of the past 20 years honing her chops while turning out one absorbing album after another. It’s no surprise, then, that she’s reached the point where she’s truly doing the solo thing in the studio. Larkin wrote all the tunes on this disc, produced it and played all the instruments as well. The sonic multiplicity of these dozen tunes is impressive. “Hallelujah” is a rhythmic pearl that’s radio-ready, while “Hollywood” matches an opaque lyric with a masterful bit of engineering that elicits an anomalous sound worthy of Laurie Anderson. Ballad “Dear Heart” is direct and elegantly done. “Phone Message” is nearly trance music — an uncanny mix of insistent drums, ethereal voices and an instrumental arrangement that deftly suggests North Africa.
