Artifacts of the Winged
Self-Released, 2003
rating: 4.5/5
reviewer: path

In the late winter of 2004, my roommate and I drove three hours to see Old Time Relijun. We got to Bennington a little early and had some dinner in the Upstairs Cafe while waiting for the show to start. Wondering why things were so quiet downstairs we ventured down to find everyone sitting on the floor, transfixed by the waifish girl in the blue satin gown onstage. It was Becky Stark, who with nothing more than a few plucks on a nylon guitar and her crystalline voice had driven all chatter out. We only heard her play one song but on the narcotic strength of it alone we each bought one of her albums, and listened to it twice on the way home.

Lavender Diamond is the title character in an elaborate opera Becky wrote and performed in. Lavender Diamond now serves as the name of the group Becky Stark fronts, though on Artifacts of the Winged she performs alone. While she strums gently on the guitar, the real focal point is her voice. It's soothing on the lullaby-like numbers that open and close the disc, but equally capable of being haunting and mysterious. "I Want to rest my Heart" contains not more than a dozen words but imparts a thrilling sweep of emotion solely through Becky's soaring vocalization.

Formally trained in opera, Becky marries the clarity and nuance of that art-form to the simplicity of the singer-and-a-guitar tradition. Her voice is simultaneously resonant and tranquilizing, it wraps around you like an ethereal mist. Were it not for her arresting, child-like lyrics you'd be lulled into a dreamy haze, but Lavender Diamond is too sonorous to sleep to. Instead it evokes the cavernous beauty of distilled memory, with achingly naive grace that refuses to be tainted by bitterness. It's the spark in those massive eyes of infants that seem to speak volumes more than they could ever
articulate in words. With a recent EP, a split 7" with indie-folk supergroup Queens of Sheeba, and escalating exposure from taste-making rags like Arthur and The Fader, Lavender Diamond is poised to become the belle of the ball in 2006.

1. There's a Place Where There's no Sorrow
2. Why oh why
3. I Want to rest my Heart
4. Emptiness is a Conductor
5. Wild
6. Child Song
7. I am a Wicked Crowd
8. Many, many
9. Don't Go To Sleep
10. My Heart Has
11. The Boat Song
12. What Is Love