Miranda Lee Richards
Album: Echoes Of The Dreamtime
Label: Invisible Hands
Tracks: 8
Website: http://www.mirandaleerichards.com

Miranda Lee Richards was a name not known to me prior to receiving this CD for review. It came with a very informative press release and a subsequent look through her excellent website filled in lots of gaps. For the uninitiated like me, Miranda was born in San Francisco after the summer of love and grew up in a bohemian household with her Parents, the well-known comic book writers Ted and Teresa Richards. Graduating from the San Francisco School of Arts her initial forays into music included learning guitar from Metallica's Kirk Hammett and a spell with The Brian Jonestown Band as a singer. As a solo artist, Miranda released albums in 2001 and 2009 and her music has been featured in films and several TV series, primarily in the United States.

This latest release was recorded in her home studio with her husband and producer Rick Parker who has worked with artists such as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Dandy Warhols. Her mission statement for this CD was to bring together eight pastoral, atmospheric pieces that should amount to her best work yet.

So, on to the record itself. The opening track, '7th Ray', certainly sets the albums stall out in terms of feel, playing and atmosphere. It is recorded beautifully and whilst repeated listens reveal how much is going on in the track, never does it sound remotely busy or cluttered. The sound on this and throughout is very hard to pin down, as is her voice. The press release talks of Miranda's first album in 2001 being a mix of folk, psychedelia and country which seems apposite, to which I would add a meditational, new age vibe.

So on '7th Ray' I hear almost a Morcheeba like, lazy, leisurely, Trip Hop feel going on with some lovely instrumentation and drum track before Miranda's voice comes in with the lyric 'You came in on the 7th ray, of the 7th day, of the year' which sets a suitably ethereal tone. The recording of her voice on this track is also very interesting I think, warm but slightly distant and sounding on top of the music but still somehow slightly back from it. At times, this and other tracks reminded me of those early 70's recordings by artists like Tim Buckley and Fairport Convention, particularly the vocal take, whilst still sounding polished and new.

The second track 'Tokyo's Dancing' is very strong, again full of lovely playing and put me in mind of Natalie Merchant's 10,000 Maniacs with its jangly guitars and harmony vocals.

Track three 'Little Radio' starts off simply with acoustic guitar and Miranda's voice before the band come in with electric guitar and drums after about a minute to push the song through as the vocal moves further back in the mix.

Other stand out tracks are the nearly seven minute long 'First Flight of Winter' with its deep, gloomy, reverb ridden guitar intro followed by a spacey vocal intoning 'I've been travelling, down a dark road'. I can easily imagine the first 30 seconds of this song introducing the next Peaky Blinders trailer!

However, the song is restless and moves on from this feel into something more gentle and meditative as the band comes in.

The longest track on the album 'It Was Given' comes in at one second under eight minutes and is another that starts with a gently strummed chord sequence over what I think is a musical saw drone. It is beautifully haunting and reminded me of those sequences in the Jack Nicholson film 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' where something sounding like this was played over key, moving moments. Initially I assumed it was a keyboard getting this sound, but the press release mentions a neighbour playing the musical saw, so I hope it was they!

The last track, 'Already Fine' is my personal favourite, starting with a sweetly picked guitar part that Miranda simply hums over before coming in with the full vocal, very much putting me in mind of Sandy Denny and the traditional song 'She Moved Through The Fair.

The playing on the album is universally tight and apparently, many friends and neighbours are featured throughout on guitar, cello, viola, violin, backing vocals and the previously mentioned musical saw.

In some ways, I think this is a brave piece of work, as Miranda seems to be making no concessions to current sounds or trends and is very much following her own instincts and beliefs. Clearly, this will appeal to her existing fan base, which seems considerable in the United States and I can imagine numerous clips or passages from these songs used in the media, on television or in films.

However, her commitment to this sound may also have a limiting effect concerning a more general reception. Firstly, all the songs are long, some very long, certainly by UK radio play standards. Secondly, the meditative nature of the songs mean that by definition they take a long time to get where they are going and as the music is quite one paced, some tracks tend to blend into one another without a clear musical distinction between them. Lastly, I do think the sound and production is somehow not of this time. That is not to say it sounds dated or old fashioned, indeed the recording quality is excellent, just that it may be something of an acquired taste being so stylised, smooth and seamless.

Overall though, I see these as possible placement rather than quality problems and particularly with repeated listens, all sorts of textures, tones and depths reveal themselves, which I think was Miranda's stated aim in capturing people's attention and inspiring them to 'slow down, listen and reflect'.

Paul Jackson