Patty Larkin
Still Green
Patty Larkin has a way of saying the most devastating things in the most beautiful setting. On “Soon As I’m Better,” a standout track from her forthcoming album, “Still Green,” her voice conveys both the sadness and optimism of feeling stuck. She sings: “Soon as I’m better/ I’ll come running/ Soon as I’m able to walk alone.”
The album, Larkin’s 13th, was borne out of a period of loss, which is reflected in its softer hues. Larkin the guitar virtuoso takes a back seat to a more introspective approach fleshed out with strings and backing vocals by longtime friends Jonatha Brooke, Merrie Amsterburg, and members of Birdsong at Morning.
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Larkin, who lives in Wellfleet, addresses the passing of both her parents, but also the joys of finding refuge in love. Partly recorded at Q Division in Somerville and co-produced with Mike Denneen, it’s an intimate album built on “songs from journals, digital recorders, cell phones, smartphones, scraps of paper, from memory and dreams, all etched into my skin,” as Larkin describes them in the liner notes.
Songs such as “It Could Be Worse” are right in line with the imagery of the album’s cover. It’s a photo of Larkin, glowing with alabaster skin and flame-red hair and a pretty peach parasol, sitting on what appears to be a sand dune. She’s the splash of color in an otherwise stark landscape. (Out Sept. 24)
JAMES REED
ESSENTIAL “It Could Be Worse”
Patty Larkin performs at Me & Thee Coffeehouse in Marblehead on Sept. 27.