Ambrosia Parsley - Weeping Cherry [CD]

The time she's living through is one of tumult and loss, evidenced here on the 41-year-old mother's solo debut, Weeping Cherry. It's songs speak to a chaotic, fragile world, and Parsley calls it's years long writing and recording process "an exorcism more than an exercise, which is actually nice." That bittersweet die was likely cast at the project's outset, when, in a span of six months, Parsley lost a series of band mates, friends, and family to untimely deaths. There's a ghostly quality to Ambrosia Parsley, always has been. Over the course of four studio albums with Shivaree, the New York singer/songwriter's voice came through the dreamy, dark pop in whispers, smoke signals amidst the prevailing caterwauls of the day. Visual images of her have likewise been somehow opaque, out of step with the look-at-me era. Produced by Chris Maxwell and Phil Hernandez (aka The Elegant Too), with contributions from Danny McGough, Joan Wasser, AA Bondy, Benjamin Biolay, and those dearly departed, the result is strangely beautiful. "I think I was just having words with my angels and devils," she says. "There are lots of both and they fill many rooms now. I throw flowers and glitter on them, try to make them pretty."