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Lisa Germano | Review
hybridmagazine.com | Tracy M. Rogers
elements of electronica and chamber pop
July 06In The Maybe World
A cursory listen to Lisa Germano's latest In the Maybe World reveals a slightly disconcerting record filled with subtle experimentation and brutal, unflinching lyrical honesty. In truth, Germano has produced an atmospheric collection of minimalist ballads that incorporates elements of electronica and chamber pop alongside lyrics of loss. Each song on In the Maybe World is at once intimate and distant, cerebral and emotionally centered. Germano tackles loneliness on the sparse "Too Much Space," which features her sweetest vocals on the album. "Into Oblivion," by contrast, features more inscrutable lyrics that could either be about death or the end of a relationships set to slowly crescendoing, strummed guitars. "In the Land of Fairies" is perhaps the most haunting, ethereal song on the CD, with its lyrics of a fairy tale gone wrong, sinister falsetto chorus, and minor key piano arrangement. "Wire," meanwhile, features Germano's most brokenhearted vocals, replete with sighs and cracks that are reminiscent of Lucinda Williams without the twang. The slow-burning simmer of "Red Thread" finds its emotional center in anger and desolation, while Germano's tribute to Jeff Buckley, "Except For the Ghosts," is a down tempo piano only ballad imbued with grief and an eerie sensibility. "After Monday" wraps things up with its musical disintegration. Ironically, "After Monday" is perhaps the most hopeful song on the CD. Throughout, Germano's vocals and lyrics are both touching and hard-edged, her experimentation consisting of rare string arrangements and guitar feedback. All in all, In the Maybe World is a must have CD for those who like their music a bit left of center and their lyrics heartbroken and provocative.