The bird in the gravel.

Jane Siberry - The Walking (1987) ***

Nominated by: Tom 

Music club: MNAC

MNAC playlist addition: The White Tent The Raft

I wasn't familiar with Jane Siberry before Tom nominated this one, outside of the discussion on The Album Years podcast. I bet they used the word 'beguiling' when outlining their review of The Walking.

They love the term, but it absolutely fits for Jane and this album.

She had me from The White Tent The Raft and it just got better from Red High Shoes onwards.

I was trying to think of other female artists that she reminded me of as I listened, and I didn't come up with much, apart from Kate Bush (which Tom suggested). Mind you I'm not sure what was happening musically in 1987 as we had two young children under 3 commandeering our time. I think this means she's a unique kind of talent. Actually, each track seems quite different from the one that comes before.

Remarkably for an album recorded in the late eighties it didn't seem to have any of the horror production tropes associated with that decade. I was actually a tad shocked when I saw it was from 1987 when I returned to Spotify to listen to it again.

Tom's preamble suggested this was her experimental album and I kind of see why - Goodbye appears to be an exercise in bravery, for instance.

All up - something of a stunner.

Favourite tracks: the first two, Lena Is A White Table, the title track (very Bush-ish). Actually - I couldn't find anything I didn't like (although 10 minutes of the Laurie Anderson style The Bird In The Gravel stretched my patience a tad).

Thanks for the introduction, Tom.