Patty Larkin
Watch the Sky
Vanguard Records
Watch the Sky, Patty Larkin’s 12th album, is a perfect example of the “more is less” concept. Her voice is subdued, but the lyrics are poignant. The music is soft, but has a profound depth to it. Put it all together, and you get one powerfully quiet album.
Watch the Sky opens with the ethereal and tribal, “Phone Message” where Larkin contemplates why we “walk in a gray mist.” It’s like a slightly poppier version of a Loreena McKennitt song.
“Hallelujah” is an intensely personal and flat-out brilliant track about falling head-over-heels in love and then falling flat on your face. Larkin explains how it goes from perfect to chaos, “We start out/ Just like angels/ We start out/ Just like God/ We end up/ Just like freefalling/ And it ends up/ We knock on wood.” Larkin also channels her bluesy side very nicely on “Beautiful” as she plays a simple lap steel with bongos in the background. It doesn’t sound like much, but Larkin doesn’t need much to reel you in.
Patty Larkin’s Watch the Sky is an intensely personal album. She essentially made an album that is a window into her life. Her smooth voice and soft folk may be a little too slow for some, and to those who think so, you are missing out on one fine lady and one brilliant musician.
Patty Larkin: http://www.pattylarkin.com
