Mary Lorson's New Band, Saint Low Lead singer from Madder Rose spins a solo disk.
By Mac Randall
On the lengthy list of criminally underappreciated bands of the 1990s, Madder Rose has got to be near the top. Four albums and a few EPs' worth of intelligent and tuneful pop won this New York-area quartet critical acclaim and a small but devoted cult audience.
things, because I'd never mastered the electronics. I thought, 'Wait a minute, I haven't learned how to do this yet!'
But lead singer Mary Lorson found herself frustrated by the band's lack of commercial progress and sitting on a
So Lorson decided it was time to form her own band and play her own songs, organically. (Madder Rose is officially "on hiatus," and Coté is working on a solo album.) Lorson's new band, Saint Low, recently released its self-titled debut
"I found myself wanting to revisit the more organic way of doing things, because I'd never mastered the electronics. I thought, 'Wait a minute, I haven't learned how to do this yet!'"
growing backlog of songs that weren't right for Madder Rose. She also felt a little uncomfortable about guitarist, principal songwriter, and main squeeze Billy Coté's growing interest in sampled beats and electronic experimentation.
"Billy constructed a lot of the beats on the last two Madder Rose records electronically," she explains. "I really did like those records, but I found myself wanting to revisit the more organic way of doing
album on Thirsty Ear, after more than a year's worth of rehearsal and recording.
Madder Rose fans, be advised: This album is substantially different from what you're used to hearing from Lorson. Two tracks, "Only One" and "A Thing Or Two," nod slightly to the hooky and upbeat, but on the whole, Saint Low is hushed, introspective, almost haunted. On tunes like the smoldering "Anywhere" and the wistful "Tall Trees" (probably the first pop song to be
$ \textcircled{2} $ Thirsty Ear Recordings, Inc.
dedicated to Ted Kazcynski), Lorson's high, yearning voice is countered by Zaun Mashburn's jazz tinged drumming and Michael Stark's fluid keyboard playing. Elsewhere, the violin of Joe Myer and the cello of Hank Roberts lend a stoic back-country feel to the music.
Lorson followed her own muse for this album. "I said to the band, 'We're gonna go wild here' and they looked sorta stumped. So I ended up doing it myself."
Sophisticated singer/songwriters like Joni Mitchell come to mind, an influence that Lorson readily acknowledges. A more contemporary influence is evident on the album's 10minute neo-psychedelic closing track,"After the Fall,"Lorson reveals that it caused her bandmates some problems. "I kept trying to get the band to do that [lengthy outro],but
they missed the whole era of '90s prog indie-rock that I loved. They'd never heard of Spiritualized. I'd say, 'We're
gonna go wild here,' and they would just look sort of stumped. So I ended up doing that part myself on the record. Once they heard the recording, they were like, 'Oh yeah, we can try that.' They just didn't have the reference points," she says with a laugh.
With a U.S. tour in the works for Saint Low, it looks like they'll have plenty of opportunity to acquire the right tastes. -
Go to steamtunnels.net to find the latest details on Saint Low's fall tour, to read and buy the new Mary Lorson album, and for the history of Madder Rose.
Top reasons freshmen drop out
Nationally one in four freshmen don't return for their sophomore year. Some schools have better retention rates than others, but let's face it, change is good for some students.
Here are the main reasons freshmen leave college:
- Failure to break away from high school friends and family.
- Failure to accept their new role as college student.
- Don't bond with college socially or academically-or both.
Source: www.usnews.com/usnews
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