Just What Happens to Jealous Girlfriends: Holly Miranda

Those of you who showed up a little early to Tegan and Sara’s show at the Tower Theater last week got to witness the enchanting Holly Miranda in-person – albeit not in the venue best-suited for the piercing intimacy of her aesthetic. Formerly of Brooklyn’s nearly-brilliant (and critically under recognized) The Jealous Girlfriends, Miranda has just released her debut LP, The Magician’s Private Library (a title lifted from her schizophrenic uncle, who used the phrase to describe the first time he heard Dark Side of the Moon).

Although she always shined as the star of her former band, the sound found in Miranda’s solo work is of a slightly different variety. Your humble narrator once described her contributions to The Jealous Girlfriends as “Black Francis' quirky pop musicality as played out by Fiona Apple,” but there is little of her latest work that would warrant such a description. The melodic riffage has been pushed aside and all that might have inspired the barrage of Karen-O-comparisons has been left behind (in exchange for what is turning into a comparable concentration of Cat-Power-comparisons). The selections found on The Magician’s Private Library are of the dream pop persuasion. Yet they encompass a hipness, provided by an abundance of synthesizers and fuzzy beats, that implies that they aren’t likely to find their way into dinner theater venues.

Many of the intriguing and endearing quirks found on the album were likely inspired by the collaboration of producer Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio, who have built a reputation for far more dynamic songs than most mainstream acts can muster. In addition to beats and synths, the album also includes strings and horns, giving it uncountable layers. Stripped down to its core of Miranda’s performance, it is as intense as a singer/songwriter can get with a keyboard; but when wrapped in layers of avant-garde musical traditions, it plays like a postmodern circus: sometimes romantic, sometimes haunting, but always with glorious soul. – Izzy Cihak