Number 3 of 2007 — My Brightest Diamond: Bring Me the Workhorse

Cloaked inside a moniker, or considering a musical adventure to be a project might seem a little excessive, but My Brightest Diamond does so because music is merely one part of the multifaceted nature of Shara Worden’s work. Its basis reaches back many generations, driven by years of musical discoveries, learning and the considerable influences of the communities that her family worked within as it tracked across America. To classify My Brightest Diamond as belonging to one or two genres is to do it a disservice, because it is more fundamental than this: It’s the product of history and of memories. Bring Me The Workhorse is My Brightest Diamond’s 2006 debut, released on Asthmatic Kitty records.

Hannah Fury’s album Through The Gash taught me that it’s worth digging through an album again and again to obtain the most out of it. But there are problems if you apply this to memories. The more we analyse them, the more we will pay attention to the smallest things and the darker they will appear. The opening song of the album, Something Of An End astonishes with the line “it was beautiful and terrible.” This bookmarks where we are, and where we’re going to stay for the course of the album. But despite this marriage of indie-rock and exquisite string arrangements, Something Of An End still manages to groove obsessively before dropping into a sweet acoustic coda which best exposes Shara’s glorious note-perfect voice.

And it’s the flexibility and accuracy of her voice which enables such variation throughout each song, and the album. Golden Star starts off as a simple guitar and drum groove before careening upwards into an explosive climax. This system of dynamics is used frequently throughout the album and intentionally over-dramatises the minutia of the events documented. Gone Away waltzes around the locked groove of abandonment only to deliver “This is a ride going nowhere.. but somewhere that I despise” and later ”..to end up with a tearful.” Again referring to the epic uselessness of such retrospection.

Freak Out briefly shifts madly from these comforting arrangements, becoming atonal and off-centre, accompanied by panicky instrumentation and ghostly screams. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to add to the value to the album.

There are however songs that recall the allegory of Joanna Newsom, although these are more obviously autobiographical than, say, Joanna’s Monkey & Bear. And it’s here where the best songs lie, reconstructing history and hiding it within hyperreal imagery. Sometimes, as with We Were Sparkling and its collection of music boxes and feedback, these microscopic recollections become overwhelmingly beautiful.

The string-laden Dragonfly, Magic Rabbit and The Robin’s Jar all tell their stories most effectively, The latter’s line “and mama made us bury it” is delivered with such childlike horror that the song’s eventual shift of subject is cataclysmic. Magic Rabbit’s distorted and grinding sub-thrash guitars melds genres together highlighting their unique qualities without cliché.

Still, for those wanting something more traditional we have The Good & The Bad Guy which is my favourite track on the album – more for its contrast with its predecessors than being a standout. Overtly moody, but burning with passion, this torchsong is devoid of guitars or bass, letting Shara’s voice sore with conflicting desire.

It’s therefore appropriate that the final song, Workhorse is delivered in similar terms, but this time with broken beats and very obvious anger and regret. The contemptuous line “Lost all your youth and all of your usefulness” is reworked continuously, but we never learn why or how. Unless, of course, you’ve listened to the previous ten songs. Because being able to write such beautiful music and deliver it in such a fine manner allows the pain of those memories to be exhumed, exposed and ultimately destroyed.

Bring Me the Workhorse – iTunes UK
Amazon UK
My Brightest Diamond – Official Website