Soulful and intimate

After taking a nine year long break from releasing new works, Natalie Merchant returns with a record entitled Keep Your Courage. Merchant combines elements of folk rock, americana and pop to create an emotionally impactful album meant to discuss love in all its forms. After an emergency surgery to treat a degenerative spinal disease, Merchant lost her voice. Losing the ability to sing made her realize just how much she loves music, which is what inspired the theme of the album.

The first piece “Big Girls” starts with Merchant’s rich voice accompanied by a soft piano solo. As the song gradually builds, Abena Koomson-Davis sings over a track consisting of gentle strums of guitar, a smooth drum beat and soaring strings. The two vocalists take turns singing verses about the facade people put up while trying to remain outwardly optimistic to others. Instruments crescendo as the climatic second half of the piece begins. The score emphasizes the inspirational lyrics that tell listeners to “hold on” as Merchant and Koomson-Davis harmonize. This soulful opener is a nice way to introduce the album’s message and overall feel.

“Come on, Aphrodite” commences with the strong timbre of Merchant’s voice over quiet piano, mixed with a humming bassline. The catchy repetition of “come on, Aphrodite” adds to the track’s funkiness, along with the vocals speeding up as the singers ask Aphrodite to make them “head over heels” in love. The brass section adds even more emotion to these words. As the song wraps up, a quiet piano plays to let the lyrics shine until the piece fades out with a mellow wavering of a cymbal.

Leaning into elements of folk music, “Sister Tilly” has a whimsical sound that focuses on acoustic guitar and goosebump-worthy strings. With the lines “Oh Miss Tilly, I think you should know / Everyone’s missing you here,” Merchant composes an intimate story about losing a loved one. About four minutes in, the tone switches to a faster tempo as the lyrics focus on finding Sister Tilly in nature to feel comforted. Merchant says Tilly is “a constellation,” “a white light vibration” and “a lotus flower.”

“Narcissus” is clearly inspired by the Greek myth about a boy who fell in love with his own reflection. The message of a lover selfishly manipulating their partner is highlighted in the lines “I went blindly through the fire for you and I burned it all.” The dynamics of her voice shine brightly as she passionately sings each word.

Definitely a more haunting piece, “Hunting the Wren” features a striking vocal performance and an acoustic guitar played to emulate a heartbeat. All elements combined give listeners a sense of focus, almost as if the song will pounce at any moment. Placed at certain points is a quick snare drum pattern that adds more interest throughout.

“Eye of the Storm” takes a medieval turn with sections focused on the distinct sounds of the gemshorn and hurdy-gurdy. Eventually, the song strips down to just Merchant’s voice and the acoustic guitar. This is followed by the most popular song on the record “Tower of Babel.” With a completely different vibe from the previous song, “Tower of Babel” has a groovy bassline, punchy piano riff and funky horn accompaniment. There’s a cowbell keeping time and vocal harmonizations whenever Merchant sings “it’s just a Tower of Babel and everybody’s so confused,” presumably to add emphasis to the mass confusion.

The album concludes with “The Feast of Saint Valentine,” which is a powerful ending to a strong record. The song slowly adds onto itself, only starting with acoustic guitar, then bass, piano and strings which add an air of eeriness. Lyrics such as “when the blood is soaking through / we’ll come to you, we’ll come to bind the wound” and “come lay your blood red roses in the snow” make for staggering imagery. However, a sense of peacefulness is restored when she sings “keep your courage, keep your faith / and take this paper heart to keep you safe.”

Keep Your Courage has many stunning elements that make for an emotionally engaging listen. Each track is incredibly smooth, thoughtful and effectively captures the range of sentiments people feel due to the multitude of ways in which people experience love.