Back Porch
2005
Drunkard's Prayer
About This Album
Out from under the sprawling, ambitious Ohio, where sonic and lyric expanses were truly ambitious yet emotionally taut and controlled, Over the Rhine bring things back to the heart on Drunkard's Prayer. Literally recorded in the living room of Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler, it is the most intimate and personal recording in OTR's catalog. Acoustic guitars, upright bass, and piano are the primary instruments of expression here, though a drum kit, electric guitar, cello, and some sparse horns and organs weave their way through this quietly elegant mix. As a singer, Bergquist is becoming a true stylist. She has always been subtle, but she manages to underscore the maximum emotional intent in a sung line by relying on nuance and an increasingly sophisticated manner of phrasing rather than histrionics. She lets her words drop with full literate articulation, yet she leaves unnecessary weight outside the song's frame. There is no ether on Drunkard's Prayer; songs are relaxed yet fully formed, rooted in a sense of place and time. There is a touch of melancholy even in the most hopeful tomes here, such as on the gorgeous "Born," where Pete Hicks' slippery electric guitar hovers spectrally over the sparse piano and acoustic foundation.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8)

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