Diana Darby – The Magdalene Laundries / 2005 Green Eyed Girl / 10 Tracks / http://www.dianadarby.com / http//www.delmorerecordings.com / Reviewed 26 September 2005

Very few individuals put this much faith in their vocals. Diana Darby does just that, as the vocal presence during tracks like “Bring Me All The Rabbits” really dictate the flow of the track, with the guitar in the background really only adding flourishes instead of anything solid to the track. “Let Her Run Free” dfraws both the vocals and arrangements to a near-equal position, and this arrangement may just even be stronger than the vocal-heavy opening to the disc.

“The Murder” uses repetition to further highlight Darby’s voices; the increase of volume coupled with a little more closely-bunched strumming of the guitar really increase the ever-mounting tension on the track. The skillful incorporation of a bee-like drone to ever-greater presence during the aforementioned “The Murder” provides a second source for vocal-like sound. This has a much-needed effect of really freshening up “The Magdalene Laundries” and allowing Darby to continue unabated for the rest of the disc’s runtime. While the disc is by no means short (Darby crashes through the half-hour marker with incredible ease), the softly-spoken Darby creates a style of music that flirts with the average listener, playing lightly along instead of bearing heavily upon the average fan. “Kierkegaard” is the most innovative track on “The Magdalene Laundries”, and even that track is not too tremendously different from the average Darby output.

All that is necessary to completely change the tone of the disc is the inclusion of an echoed set of vocals; the resulting fullness of the track contrasts starkly with the somewhat-Spartan sound of the rest of the disc. The shy wallflower that comes out as Darby’s persona during this disc really provides a sorrowful, tired sound that would match well with the average Magdalene “wayward girl”. The low-fi recording of this disc shows an economy that allows Darby to speak volumes just sitting next to a 4-track recorder. There are not the grandiose shifts in style and tone that many other successful discs have, but this straight-forward, plain approach makes “The Magdalene Laundries” succeed. The entirety of “The Magdalene Laundries” really does not elicit the comparisons and tangential rambling present in many a review; rather, one finds eirself time and time again zoning out to the music and trying to piece it into place as a part of this musical play. The veteran musical really does the generation of Magdalene washers proud in properly showing their struggle through music.

Top Tracks: Kierkegaard, Skin

Rating: 6.0/10