LAST TOWN CHORUS > Wire Waltz

I got my review copy of Wire Waltz when lead singer Megan Hickey met me in a coffee shop in Brooklyn. Her band’s delicate cover of David Bowie’s “Modern Love” was recently placed on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, so it was surprising that Hickey-on the brink of the big time-would meet me in person, instead of sending me the CD.Label: HACKTONE
[Rating: 3.5]

I got my review copy of Wire Waltz when lead singer Megan Hickey met me in a coffee shop in Brooklyn. Her band’s delicate cover of David Bowie’s “Modern Love” was recently placed on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, so it was surprising that Hickey-on the brink of the big time-would meet me in person, instead of sending me the CD.

But after listening to this big-sky-indie album, it seems totally in character with her spare, deep and personal music. Hickey’s trademark is unbridled honesty, and she wears her heart on her lap-she’s a kick-ass lap steel player whose unique mastery of the instrument gives grace and import to her thoughtful if sullen tunes. Her voice, equal parts sand and mercury, almost vies for the lead. Wire Waltz is a hypnotic collection about loss and obsession. The bittersweet title track is lush and dark, its tension the result of a build from an eerie violin; “It’s Not Over” is a stubborn refusal to let go; and there’s no misunderstanding “You,” “I want you/And I don’t care what all the others say.”

Finally, she searches for closure on “Understanding,” “You found yourself in the single life…But does it feel right?/I wish I understood you…” And you thought your breakup was bad. Wisely, Hickey also explores other types of longing: She mines nostalgia on “Huntsville,” a tautly executed scrapbook of her youth, which offers a slight respite from all the heartbreak.  Still, this is music best listened to in the dark, on the deep pile, with the cans on.