Hannah & Maggie - Muscle and Bone

Hannah & Maggie –Muscle and Bone
2012, Hannah & MaggieIf you were to picture Hannah & Maggie as a sort ofmusical Thelma and Louise, barnstorming across the U.S. in an over-stuffedstation wagon, you wouldn’t be too far from part of the truth.  The truth, that is, if Thelma and Louiseharmonized liked Simon and Garfunkel, and wrote with the poignant flair of TheIndigo Girls.  These words are, perhaps,big shoes to fill, but Hannah & Maggie fill them nicely.  Their recently released second album, Muscle And Bone, offers wonderfullyimage-filled songwriting, angelic harmonies and musical warmth that isdifficult to describe but wonderful to experience.Hannah &Maggie kick things off with “As You Wake”, awonderfully vibrant still life in song about love worn angst.  In spite of the emotional cloudy skiesportrayed here the song is catchy, and Hannah & Maggie's voices mix likemagic.  “Keeping Calm The Lives We Know”is urgent and faced-paced, and sounds very much like a theoretical Paula Simonand Amy Garfunkel.  Musical aestheticsseems to be the purpose in “Burlington, Vermont”.  The attention to capture a place/moment is abid muddled lyrically, but is a thing of pure beauty musically.  “Muscle and Bone” captures the musicianyearning; the desire to capture moments, people and places in song for the sakeof doing so.  The sense of transcendencehere is amazing.  It’s like hearing themagic of nature unfurl before your very ears.“City In Between” is a catchy folk number about coming toterms with the terminal dysfunction in a relationship.  This time the lyrical constructs are spot on,and the performance is as sharp as anything Hannah & Maggie have done.  Fans of Nerissa and Katryna Nields will findmuch to like here.  One of the most interestingsongs on the album is “Ghost”, an ode to an emotional transient that is craftedin warm musical hues and stark imagery.  Hannah& Maggie create a sort of musical alchemy with their voices here in perhapsthe most moving performance on the album.Hannah & Maggie do a wonderful job of capturing afeeling of melancholy and emotional desolation on “Little Wind”.  The musical imagery matches the lyrics, andmakes for a listen that’s aesthetically uncomfortably but artisticallymasterful.   The melancholy bleeds overinto “Curfew”, breakout out into full hysterics that we never quite see buthave described for us.  The song is athing of utter beauty, a ‘Wow’ moment, with Hannah Hickock showing a tremendoussense of vulnerability and awareness in the process of coming to terms withthings she knew about a relationship but didn’t recognize at the time.“Brighton Beach” is a surprisingly literate take on someonecircling their own psyche for understanding. The lyrics here roll off the tongue like pure magic, with turns ofphrase that make you stop in wonder.  Thevoices here are sublime.  “The RoomFiddler” is an interesting blend of melancholy and hope that is quietlycatchy.  The sadness in this song ispalpable, but there is also a sense that the singer is searching for redemptionin loneliness, and intriguing conceptualization.  “The Quieting Down” maintains the desolatequality that pops up throughout Muscleand Bone, ensconced in a wonderful cadence. Hannah & Maggie wind things down with “Four Post Bed”, a somewhatconfusing take on the baser tendencies of human relationships.  It’s not entirely clear whether the singer isindicting someone else or herself for perceived imperfections.  Nevertheless, it’s a sonically beautifulcloser you won’t want to miss.Hannah & Maggie grab you right from the opening momentsof Muscle and Bone with starkimagery, gorgeous arrangements and voices that wrap around you like a warmblanket on a cold winter’s night. Comparisons to Simon & Garfunkel, TheIndigo Girls and The Nields are all very valid, but the overarching qualitythat runs through Muscle and Bone isan aching desolation like that which informed Roger Waters’ best work with PinkFloyd.  This desolation elocuted in suchangelic voices sparks images that drive themselves into your mind and refuse toleave.  Muscle and Bone may have a couple of weak moments, but the magicthat pervades here is too strong to ignore.Rating: 4.5 Stars(Out of 5)Learn more about Hannah & Maggie at www.hannahandmaggie.com.