Still, Here is the tenth studio album by Portland guitarist Marisa Anderson, released September 23, 2022, by Thrill Jockey.[1][2] The eight-track album consists of six original compositions and two arrangements of traditional songs. Anderson recorded every instrument, including multiple keyboards and numerous guitars, herself.
| Still, Here | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 23, 2022 | |||
| Genre | Blues, folk | |||
| Length | 33:48 | |||
| Label | Thrill Jockey | |||
| Marisa Anderson chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Still, Here | ||||
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Background
editThe album was announced June 16 along with the release of lead single "Waking".[3] Second single "La Llorona", an arrangement of a traditional Mexican song named after the legendary spirit of Hispanic-American folklore, was released August 8.[4] Third single "The Fire This Time", named after James Baldwin's 1963 essay collection The Fire Next Time, was released September 8.[5] Anderson first released "The Fire This Time" for two weeks on her Bandcamp page, donating over $2,500 of proceeds to the Minnesota Freedom Fund.[6]
Anderson called the making of the album "probably a four-year process", saying that after her previous solo album Cloud Corner, she wasn't sure she had anything new to say. She "needed a little time and distance", leading to her intervening collaborative albums – The Quickening with Jim White and Lost Futures with William Tyler – to give her a change of pace. She said she thinks that move worked, that it "shook some other things loose and now I feel inspired again – and I'm writing new stuff all the time, which is fun." Per Anderson, "The Fire This Time" is about the murder of George Floyd and was written while protests were ongoing, with police sirens audible in the recording and the music representing her "visceral, horrified response to those events".[7]
Style
editPer Dusted's Jennifer Kelly, the album is, "as always, lovely, serene and rooted in blues and folk traditions."[8] Pitchfork's Andy Cush calls her fingerpicking technique reminiscent of both Piedmont blues and flamenco, and notes some tracks which take influence from early Philip Glass, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and sunshine pop. Cush says every song has its own identity.[2]
Reception
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 80/100[9] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Pitchfork | 7/10[2] |
| Record Collector | [10] |
| Uncut | 8/10[11] |
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Still, Here received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 80 out of 100 from 4 critic scores.[9]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Marisa Anderson, except tracks 7 and 8 which are traditional and arranged by Anderson.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "In Dark Water" | 4:16 |
| 2. | "The Fire This Time" | 3:38 |
| 3. | "The Low Country" | 5:43 |
| 4. | "Night Air" | 3:07 |
| 5. | "Waking" | 3:07 |
| 6. | "The Crack Where the Light Gets In" | 4:37 |
| 7. | "La Llorona" | 3:31 |
| 8. | "Beat the Drum Slowly" | 5:49 |
| Total length: | 33:48 | |
Personnel
edit- Marisa Anderson – composer, arranger, producer, recording engineer, nylon-string guitar, steel-string guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, requinto guitar, electric piano, synthesizer
- Jesse Munro Johnson – mixing engineer
- Amy Dragon – mastering engineer
- Dante Korinto – photography
- Daniel Castrejon – design
References
edit- ^ a b Monger, Timothy. "Marisa Anderson - Still, Here". AllMusic. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- ^ a b c Cush, Andy (September 26, 2022). "Marisa Anderson: Still Here Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- ^ DeVille, Chris (June 16, 2022). "Marisa Anderson – "Waking"". Stereogum. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- ^ Gallacher, Alex (August 8, 2022). "Marisa Anderson – "La Llorona" (Tune of the Day)". Folk Radio. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- ^ Todd, Nate (September 8, 2022). "Marisa Anderson Shares "The Fire This Time" Single". JamBase. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- ^ Tissenbaum, Marc (January 5, 2021). "How Musicians Are Surviving the Pandemic — and the Music Industry". PopMatters. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
- ^ Kimpton, Glenn (December 15, 2022). "Marisa Anderson on the art of improvisation versus composition and the everlasting allure of a sustaining electric guitar". Guitar World. Retrieved December 18, 2022.
- ^ Kelly, Jennifer (September 21, 2022). "Marisa Anderson—Still, Here (Thrill Jockey)". Dusted. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- ^ a b "Still, Here by Marisa Anderson Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- ^ Grady, Spencer. "Marisa Anderson - Still, Here". Record Collector. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- ^ Deusner, Stephen. "Marisa Anderson - Still, Here". Uncut. Retrieved December 11, 2022.