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Mar 03, 2022 Web Exclusive By Mark Moody

Kristine Leschper’s first album released under her own name is a clear departure from where she last left us as leader of her long serving musical vehicle, Mothers. The two full-length Mothers albums were worlds apart from each other and Leschper’s first solo outing showcases different approaches altogether from those. The Opening, or Closing of a Door is an amalgamation of recorded sounds—carefully orchestrated chamber music set pieces stand side by side with tracks characterized more by a freewheeling sense of percussive play (a brake drum and a nutritional yeast shaker are among the more unorthodox of noise makers employed). But the care and attention given to assembling layered handclaps and vocal samples alongside curlicued woodwind lines and sonorous string arrangements provides a constant quality across the album’s 13 tracks.

The album’s dynamic range is established on its first two tracks. The opener, “This Animation,” is crafted with an ensemble in mind. An acoustic guitar strum, accompanied by strings, is joined by Leschper’s crystalline higher register vocals, which are chased by the line of a flute entering later. Contrast that with the following “Picture Window,” that while still mannered, is a mixture of recorded handclaps, stray percussion, and thrumming bass notes. Given the freedom to work within her own constructs, Leschper toys within and beyond these boundaries at will, but with sympathetic accompaniment from long time collaborator Garrett Burke and sought out arranger of horns and strings, Samuel Weissberg.

Most fully out of the rest of the album’s frame are the layered vocal samples that make up “Writhe and Wrestle,” and the sensual groove that characterizes the quickened pace of “Blue.” “Writhe and Wrestle” has the insistent repetition of a Phillip Glass composition, but is cobbled together from vocal snippets that point more to Laurie Anderson’s work. Put in some playful alliteration at the beginning—“pretty parchment apartment”—and it makes for a heady mix of approaches that hang well together. While “Blue” glides by powered by Weissberg’s rubbery and creatively paced bass lines.

But unlike many frontend-loaded albums today, Leschper saves some of the most dazzling displays for the latter half of the album. One of the earliest and obscure Mothers songs, “Carina,” makes its return in a head spinning recast. The original release in 2014 consisted of Leschper accompanying herself solo on a highly pitched stringed instrument, while 2022’s remake expands at a level not unlike the celestial body the song references. Crisp handclaps and layered vocals reappear here, but after the pregnant pause at the end of the song’s second verse, Leschper wordlessly elevates the song to a higher plane where the remainder of the song gently builds to its end. The succeeding “Ribbon” and “Compass” also bring the album’s diverse elements into a sharper focus. “Ribbon” succeeds in seamlessly incorporating the chamber music and percussive elements, while on “Compass,” Leschper receives a lifting up by the voices of family and friends as she repeats “softening my edges,” ultimately blending into the chorus.
Freeing herself from the bounds of her earlier incarnation, Leschper has clearly put herself in a more hopeful and sunnier spot. On the last Mothers album, Leschper’s songs and singing were buffeted about and covered over at extreme lengths. Here Leschper gives herself ample room to explore the silence of the quiet period in which these songs were born. That baseline environment slowly gives way to inviting sounds cobbled together in mesmerizing ways. Like the album’s title, the opening and closing of doors make for discrete events without the assurance of what comes next or what lies behind them. In this case, The Opening, or Closing of a Door leads to the promise of a new path forward worth further exploration. (www.kristineleschper.com)

Author rating: 8/10