Drag City
2002
Sound Restores Young Men
About This Album
Ever since contributing the song "Renee Died" to Smog's Burning Kingdom EP, Cynthia Dall has been known for music that is equally beautiful and terrifying, disturbing and strangely sympathetic. On her further Smog collaborations and her debut album, Untitled, she staked out a distinctive territory among indie rock's female singer/songwriters: not as chaotic as Cat Power, not as theatrical as Mary Timony, and not as self-deprecating as Lisa Germano, Dall's prickly insights into relationships and dreamy, disturbing soundscapes made her music unique. For quite a while it seemed that Untitled would be Dall's only album, though every few years rumors about her recording would crop up. Six years later, Sound Restores Young Men arrives, and not much has changed -- Dall's music is just as eerie and resolutely individual as ever. The album's hypnotic guitars, echoing pianos, and her fragile, frosty voice sound as familiar and remote as before, particularly on the spare, spooky ballad "God Made You" and the shimmering, hesitantly hopeful "Nest of Dead Children." As before, Dall's music is distinctly paradoxical; more often than not, the songs with the grimmest titles are actually the prettiest and most uplifting, and every moment that suggests warmth is undercut by the distant, icy prettiness of Dall's vocals.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,4,9 and 11)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.