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The Natural Therapy of MusicPaula Frazer's swooping, droning voice has been compared to Patsy Cline's, but it would be more accurate to say that Frazer like Patsy Cline if Patsy had not been encouraged to sing like Patti Page and instead tried to sing more like John Lee Hooker. In other words, she's spooky, folks. Down to your bone, rabbit-run-over-your-grave spooky. On this second Tarnation record (which features a completely different band than the one that backed her on the debut, Gentle Creatures), Frazer's downbeat melodies ride alongside solemn, Ennio Morricone-esque guitar structures; sometimes it feels like a comfortable ride in an open convertible on some desolate desert highway ("Little Black Egg" "Your Thoughts and Mine"), and sometimes Frazer and her new band make you feel like you're thumbing a ride on that same terrain, alone and hearing wolves ("A Place Where I Know." "Christine"). Gentle Creatures found Frazer trading vocals with the more straight-forward Matt Wendell Sullivan, and the effect was equally exhilarating. Looking back, that was one of the best records of its year (1995), but Frazer was obviously after something much more than quirky country rock. Here, on Mirador, she's the whole show (playing everything from Farfisa to guitar to "percussion folk-toy"), and her atmospheric art rock hits the blue button all over again. It's that voice, I tell you. Shakes the bone!
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