Dry Food was written and recorded in 2013-14 before Boston's Ellen Kempner had even turned 20. It's her debut full length and all her own work save for the drums.
The eight songs chart her struggles to cope with unwanted singlehood and trying to salvage some sense of self worth. On Dixie the image of the hairs of her ex clogging up a shower drain illustrate that she's not clinging to any romantic day dreams here.
The jerky stop-start rhythms on songs such as Healthier Folk and Cinnamon are Pavement-like while she comes over as a bruised Aimee Mann character on a title track which repeats the vengeful line "you made beauty a monster to me".
|
Kempner has been praised for the unflinching honesty of her confessional lyrics but there's more than a little exhibitionism too. Loneliness and self doubt suits the edgy quality of these songs but the ‘woe is me’ introspection gets a little over indulgent too.
Breaking up is hard to do but some perspective wouldn't have gone amiss.
|
