Kimya Dawson
Remember That I Love You
K
Like the old Beatles Vs. Stones question, I think which member of the Moldy Peaches you choose to follow post-“hiatus” says a lot about a person. I’m firmly in the Kimya Dawson camp. She’s coming into her own as this awesome hybrid of Syd Barrett, Billy Bragg, Vashti Bunyan, Sesame Street and one of the most enthusiastic kindergarten teachers ever. The sound of Remember That I Love You is one of campfire songs and lullabies, full of softly strummed guitars bolstered by flourishes of mandolin, violin and keyboard to add a more pastoral feel, maybe a Pacific northwest take on English folk psychedelia alternating with schoolyard chants and sing-a-longs (the massed choruses are beautiful and cause me to smile in spite of myself), torch songs, hardcore idealism and tender, intimate exorcisms of fear, love and doubt (a la Tim Buckley). The wordplay is fast-flowing, by turns bratty and affecting, political and personal, somewhere along the lines of the Walt Whitman maxim about “embracing multitudes” within oneself. Her voice, I love her voice, it sounds like, maybe my best friend from high school, plainly spoken sing/speak, happiness at just being able to create and write songs, or maybe Maureen Tucker or Heather Lewis. Remember That I Love You has this direct, homebrewed feel to it, owing as much to the organic simplicity of the instrumentation as to the, if not quite diary-like, then at least short-story/memoir feel of the lyrics. A lump in your throat melts easily into a goofy grin.
This woman is in love with a life lived on the fringes of normality and polite society. An itinerant musical nomad. It’s exciting and refreshing to hear such a perspective. With such an open soul and bigheartedness, she’ll outshine us all.
K Records: http://www.kpunk.com
