After stretching her wings stylistically and compositionally on the adventurous
Centrifics, which took influence from artists like
Meredith Monk and
Joanna Newsom, singer/songwriter
Marina Allen settles into warmer, earthier territory on
Eight Pointed Star. Both albums were produced by
Chris Cohen (
Weyes Blood,
Ohmme), and here
Allen is joined by a full band. Named for a pattern commonly found in quilts,
Eight Pointed Star looks to the past, future, family, and folklore for its subject matter. A song like "Red Cloud," for instance, is named for the birthplace of
Willa Cather and imagines her mother's family back in rural Nebraska with such evocative phrasing as "I make a stew with rainwater and frozen meat, thick with pine needles, warm beer, and baby teeth"). Manifesting the dreamy, easygoing sound of reflection, that song features a laid-back jazz-pop groove, piano and synthesizer (by
Andrew Dorsett), and occasional violin (by
Odessa Jorgensen) and guitar synthesizer (by
Hand Habits) alongside the singer's drifting melody. An affectionate relationship song, the lightly twangy "Easy" is another dreamy entry, this one with some of the album's frequent literary, historical, and pop culture references (East of Eden, "the prodigal son"). The enigmatic, piano-based "Deep Fake" contains lines including "From
Bitches Brew to Antigone," while the driving, early rock-oriented "Love Comes Back" keeps things relatively straightforward with its often-repeated title. Throughout
Eight Pointed Star's various stylistic touchpoints, artistic allusions, and consistently lyrical melodies,
Allen effectively merges the cerebral and the sentimental on an album that's ultimately about different kinds of love. ~ Marcy Donelson
