The Trackless Woods
Iris DeMent · 2015
57 min · 18 tracks · country music
A contemplative blend of folk melodies and poignant storytelling that reflects on life, loss, and the human experience.
Top tracks — play these first
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To My Poems — This opening track sets a reflective tone for the album, encapsulating DeMent's introspection and reverence for poetry. Its brevity packs an emotional punch that invites listeners into the thematic heart of the record.
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Prayer — A hauntingly beautiful interlude, this track showcases DeMent's ability to convey deep emotion in minimalistic arrangements, illustrating her lyrical and musical craftsmanship.
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Lot’s Wife — This song draws on biblical imagery to explore themes of regret and longing, revealing DeMent's skill in blending narrative elements with profound emotional resonance.
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The Souls of All My Dears — This track features rich storytelling that speaks to love and loss, exemplifying DeMent's signature style of merging personal experiences with broader human truths.
Elevation
Our rating, out of 100 — and why.
AI-generated from five scored dimensions. An opinion, not a measurement.
The album effectively blends folk melodies with poetic lyrics, creating a distinctive and cohesive listening experience.
What we noticed
- The album features a consistent use of acoustic instrumentation, primarily guitar and piano, creating an intimate soundscape throughout.
- Each track is built around the lyrical content derived from Anna Akhmatova's poetry, with melodies that reflect the emotional weight of the words.
- The pacing is deliberate, with several tracks extending beyond four minutes, allowing for contemplative moments and gradual build-ups.
- The final track includes a recitation of Akhmatova's poem, which shifts the tone and serves as a reflective conclusion to the album.
- Composition 25% of the score
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7/10
- Craft 20% of the score
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8/10
- Durability 25% of the score
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6/10
- Distinctiveness 18% of the score
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8/10
- Sequencing 12% of the score
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7/10
the writing — melody, harmony, structure, lyrics
production, performance, arrangement
whether it rewards returning to it
whether it sounds like itself
running order, pacing, length
Known within its scene. Reported but not counted — how far a record travelled describes its reception rather than the record, and a newer release has had less time to travel than an older one.
Tracklist
Best experienced from track one — press play and let it unfold.
- 1 To My Poems 1:15
- 2 Broad Gold 3:26
- 3 And This You Call Work 3:22
- 4 From the Oriental Notebook 5:22
- 5 Prayer 1:31
- 6 Not With Deserters 3:40
- 7 All Is Sold 4:07
- 8 Reject the Burden 3:04
- 9 From an Airplane 2:45
- 10 Oh, How Good 3:06
- 11 Like a White Stone 3:42
- 12 Song About Songs 3:35
- 13 Listening to Singing 2:35
- 14 Lot’s Wife 4:35
- 15 Upon the Hard Crest 1:45
- 16 The Souls of All My Dears 4:46
- 17 The Last Toast 1:16
- 18 Not With a Lover’s Lyre / Anna Akhmatova’s Recitation of “The Muse” 3:39
Reference: Wikipedia · MusicBrainz · Wikidata
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