Lady Lazarus is the new project of musician, writer and artist Melissa Ann Sweat. She recently released her debut album Mantic with the accompanying single ‘The Eye in the Eye of the Storm’, both of which have already received impressive accolades. Lady Lazarus creates music with an ambient yet rhythmic quality, which could essentially be described as a sparse form of experimental dream-pop.
Acts such as Perfume Genius and Mount Eerie have been cited amongst her influences, but it is the experimental minimalist act Grouper that her work most closely resembles. However, whilst Grouper’s music seems to stem from the Brian Eno school of minimalism, with drone and dark ambience predominating, Lady Lazarus seems to look much more to John Cage, with her tonal simplicity and rotating piano patterns.
Piano is the most consistently used instrument throughout Mantic, and is persistent, sedate and repetitive. The beauty is in the simplicity of the instrument – the spaces between the notes are considered as much as the notes themselves, which lend all tracks on the album a hauntingly beautiful quality that is gently rousing and never boring.
Other instruments are occasionally involved, including harmonica, thumb harp, xylophone, and accordion, which take the lead on some tracks. The most prolific element on Mantic, however, is the voice. Utterances are sporadic but presented highly in the mix where they calmly and nonchalantly capture your attention. Sweat has a very measured voice, with a thick American twang. Well-tuned and delicate, it is particularly reminiscent of Anni Rossi – natural, effortless, soft and feminine.
There is a subtle allure to Mantic, which is perhaps unique, and undeniably measured, poetic and possessing a mechanical beauty.
See this at TGA at http://thegirlsare.wordpress.com/2011/04/29/review-lady-lazarus/#more-9375
