Martha Wainwright
Martha Wainwright (Zoë)
by Marc Hirsh
And with that, Martha
Wainwright renders the singer’s family tree irrelevant (yes, that
Wainwright… that one, too). There’s nothing tentative about the album;
there
may be missteps – the ill-fitting art-rock sweep and lyrical venom of
“Ball
& Chain,” the mundane Oprah references in “TV Show” – but they
arise out of
boldness, not uncertainty. Wainwright hits her mark more often than
not, and
her brooding, Daniel Lanois-style production provides a perfect
backdrop for
songs ranging from the folky pop of “Factory” and “When The Day Is
Short” to
the stripped-bare century-old Vaughan Williams/Robert Louis Stevenson
hymn “Whither
Must I Wander” to the gorgeous, melancholy “Don’t Forget.” “Fall it
cools,
winter it snows / Spring it rains, summer comes / And you go,” she
sings, and
her voice matches the words hurt for hurt.