Carnivals & Other Tragedies
Self-Released, 2018
8/10
Listen to Carnivals And Other Tragedies
The 3rd album from the Chicago musician Marshall Hjertstedt, the 7 original tunes here feature acoustic guitar and vocals from Marshall, while friends contribute many other instruments across the folk, roots and rock sounds.
“Carnival Ride” starts the listen with warm, melodic guitar as Marshall’s soothing pipes suit the folk inspired climate, and “Merry-Go-Round” follows with fiddle from Jordi Kleiner as harmony vocals from Jenny Bienemann highlight the reflective and Americana influenced delivery.
Near the middle, “The Devil’s In The Details” benefits from Andon Davis’ strong guitar work amid the more tense but certainly pretty landscape, while “El Nino” is bare display of sublime acoustic song craft. “The River” exits the listen percussively strong thanks to Jerry King as the setting becomes dreamy, rhythmic and heartfelt.
Marshall’s got a knack for timeless song craft, and these easily embraceable tunes settle in quite nicely on the memorable and very skilled execution.
Travels well with: Bo Armstrong- Where We Are; Scott Mulvahill- Himalayas