''Karaoke Angel'' is the debut studio album by American

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

musician

Molly Sarlé Molly Sarlé is an American musician. She is a member of the folk group Mountain Man (band), Mountain Man and in 2019 released a solo album, ''Karaoke Angel''. Early life and Mountain Man Sarlé was born in Santa Cruz, California, and attended Be ...

, released on September 20, 2019 by

Partisan Records Partisan Records is an independent record label with offices in London and Los Angeles, as well as in New York City, where the company was co-founded in 2007 by Tim Putnam and Ian Wheeler. The label, initially run out of Putnam’s South Brooklyn ...

Background

Sarlé originally started recording the album in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

with Amelia Meath of Sylvan Esso and her producer

Sam Evian Sam Griffin Owens, known professionally as Sam Evian, is an American songwriter, instrumentalist and producer based in New York. He has released three full-length albums and one 7" single. History In 2016, Sam Evian signed with Saddle Creek Re ...

, however she moved to Dreamland Studios in Woodstock, New York.

Critical reception

''Karaoke Angel'' was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 79, based on 5 reviews. Amanda Wicks of '' Pitchfork'' wrote that "absent the surrounding vocals of Mountain Man, or much instrumental framing beyond guitar, synths, and occasional drums, Sarlé’s voice comes into full frame" and concluded that "on ''Karaoke Angel'', Sarlé wields her voice with power, finding actualization in the act of telling." '' Vanity Fair''s Erin Vanderhoof wrote that the album's songs "buzz with naturalistic sounds, and have a ghostly quality that reflects where they were recorded." Sarah Edwards, writing in ''

Indy Week ''Indy Week'', formerly known as the ''Independent Weekly'' and originally the ''North Carolina Independent'', is a tabloid-format alternative weekly newspaper published in Durham, North Carolina, United States, and distributed throughout the Res ...

'', described the album as "contemporary and intense and in-step with the metamorphic nature of specific feelings and moments". Tony Inglis of '' The Skinny'' described the album as "filled mostly with quiet, vocal-led tracks that veer from haunting, sparse ballads to something more hopeful" and praised "This Close" as the song in which "Sarlé’s intentions seem to all lock into place, bringing together elements that have varied successes individually across the album’s ten songs". In ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', Allie Gregory argued that "Sarlé's stunning voice" is at the album's center, "and it beats the soul raw while simultaneously supplicating an empathetic ear" and described "Human," "Karaoke Angel" and "Almost Free" as "the album's hardest hitting tracks, covering a range of human emotion: pain, sadness, ecstasy, longing, glee and defeat".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Karaoke Angel'' liner notes. The Band *

— vocals, guitar, flute *

— guitar, bass, percussion,

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

, Prophet, Yamaha VSS, harmonium,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

* Brian Betancourt – bass, guitar * Otto Hauser – drums, percussion Production and artwork * Sam Evian – producer;

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

; mixer * Molly Sarlé — producer; rose photography *

Heba Kadry Heba Kadry is an Egyptian mastering engineer who currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. She is best known for her work with Bjork, Beach House, Slowdive, The Mars Volta, Neon Indian, Wooden Shjips, Lightning Bolt, White Hills, Alex G, Future ...

– mastering engineer * Kendall Bailey – front jacket; back booklet photography *

Shervin Lainez Shervin Lainez is a music photographer who was born in Washington, DC in 1985. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. Lainez began his career in DC photographing independent bands, and went on to photograph the likes of Regina Spektor, St. Vi ...

– back jacket photography * Ryan McCardle – design; layout

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2019 debut albums Partisan Records albums