OK! So as I started looking over instrumental music for part two of this little series of posts, I realized I left some important stuff off my pop-and-pop-adjacent list of songs in the last post! (Again, [X] indicates Laura-Crossett-friendly tracks.)
Sarah Jarosz, “Blue Heron” [X]
Blue Heron Suite is an ep from Nashville folk singer Sarah Jarosz designed to be heard as a single work of music about Jarosz and her relationship with her mother while her mom was being treated for cancer, and it’s effective that way. I’ll confess, though, that I tend to skip to the climax and listen to the final song of the suite, “Blue Heron” with its beautiful soaring vocals.
Cassandra Jenkins, “Hard Drive”
The spoken word delivery reminds me of Laurie Anderson. “Are you always this nervous? / I said [sings] ‘yes…’” The dual meaning of “hard drive” is corny. The low-key arrangement and instrumentation is compelling. I just like everything about this track.
Emma Ruth Rundle, “Blooms of Oblivion”
This is really a recommendation for the full album Engine of Hell, but this song will give you a good idea of what it’s all about. Dark, moody, atmospheric, kinda gothic folk music maybe? I first heard Emma Ruth Rundle on last year’s fantastic “post-metal” album, May Our Chambers Be Full which she recorded with the band Thou. This one is just as heavy but not as metal.