January 6, 2012

Dear Reader - 'Idealistic Animals'

Dark doubts lie at the core of this record

Album Info

Release Date: January 9, 2012
Producer: Brent Knopf
Label: City Slang
Fact: This album was recorded in both Leipzig, Germany and Portland, Oregon.

4 / 10 An album with songs all named after different kinds of animals may well strike fear into the heart of some, but that’s nothing compared to the dark doubts that lie at this the core of this unusual record. Across these 11 zoologically themed tracks, Cheri MacNeil tries to build a new belief system, or at least lay some scaffolding over the howling hole left by the loss of her religious faith. It’s done without melodrama and with dark wit on the likes of ‘Mole (Mole)’, with a bright, fixed-smile brio, like a folksy St Vincent. Musically, it’s nowhere near as life-changing as its subject matter, but MacNeil’s mortality menagerie make cute enough companions in the void.

Duncan Gillespie

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