Martha Wainwright

Far Away
G.P.T.
Factory
These Flowers
Ball & Chain
Don’t Forget
This Life
When the Day Is Short
Bloody Mother F*cking Asshole
TV Show
The Maker
Who Was I Kidding?
Wither Must I Wander

Probably best known as the younger sister of the wonderfully flamboyant Rufus Wainwright, Martha is a credible songwriter in her own right. Whereas Rufus tends to opt for theatrics and lush orchestration, Martha follows in her parents’ footsteps (Kate McGarrigle & Loudon Wainwright III) and writes folk-rock. This is her self-titled debut album, Martha Wainwright.

Honestly people, Martha has a really great voice. She boasts a diverse vocal range; she can go from a rasping, venomous shriek, to a hearty yodel in seconds. The changeover from the one style to the other is faultless. Although I feel that her greatest quality is how genuine she makes her stories, she sings them from the heart and they all seem painfully authentic.

Not willing to live in her brother’s shadow, she comes out fighting with the fabulous opening song, Far Away. The production is immaculate: An easy-going set of piano chords and acoustic strumming compete; there is overdubbed chanting from Martha. It’s a very enchanting start to the album. “I have no reason to be alive,” sings Martha, “Oh give me one, give me one!” If you can continue writing like this, Martha, you have plenty of reasons to be alive.

Factory has one of her best vocal performances on the album. “These are not my people; I should never have come here, the chick with the d*ck and the gift for the gab,” but she reassures us that, “There are millions of people walking around… And I can walk with them, I need their love.” The song conveys incredibly well the sense of being out of place and the human desire to fit in with our peers. Elsewhere, I love the leisurely spectacle that is Don’t Forget. An unhurried keyboard sets the pace, Martha plays a set of chords over, and an indistinct, overdubbed mantra dictates the direction the song takes from the half way point. The icing on the cake is the heart-warming chorus, “Don’t forget that I will always love you, just a reminder to help you pave your pathway.” Oh Martha, I love you. I’ll never forget this.

The first time I ever saw Martha Wainwright was on Jools Holland. She was performing Bloody Mother F*cking Asshole, and boy did she let rip. The title of the track probably gives you a rough idea of just some of the resentment which lies within, but you do need to hear it for yourself to personally acknowledge how much of a contribution to the album this is. True, I don’t particularly like swearing in music, but here it seems perfectly justified.

Who Was I Kidding? is the penultimate track on the album. Musically, it isn’t very solid, but the lyrics and vocal performance more than make up for this. I wouldn’t necessarily say that Martha Wainwright is technically a good singer, but she possesses an undeniable quality within her wide-ranging vocal techniques, which is no better showcased than here. A cover of Wither Must I Wander closes Martha Wainwright’s debut LP. For the inexperienced, it consists of lyrics from a Robert Louis Stevenson poem. The musicianship is very minimalist, with little more than a piano playing. But the way Martha’s voice passes over the chords, almost like a pair of courting butterflies, makes for an enormously handsome piece of music. What can I say, I like it a lot.

I was pleasantly surprised with this album from Martha Wainwright. I went in with no expectations, other than knowing she could deliver a great live performance. I think it would be unfair to compare her with Rufus Wainwright, as they record music for two very different genres.

So for me, this gets a thumbs up and a recommendation!

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