My tendency to get swept up in melody and rhythm led to a late-blooming awareness of Meg’s poetic lyricism. I could have picked any one of them for that first amphetamine-like high. It happens again and again with the other songs. By the time she reaches the crescendo of: Oh, and if love is the distance between you and what you love* (*from a poem by Rilke) / Then look how far, look how far I’ll go, I am soaring.
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Producer Crit Harmon’s skills hit all the marks brilliantly, building the initial poetic observation of birds flying low in early morning into a drum-fueled, driving hallelujah to the thrill of love’s power: Never knew the birds could fly this low / guess I’ve never been up this early / you know I’d sleep if I could / but when I do I only dream of fleeing war torn countries. That song sparked a blazing infatuation that had me playing it repeatedly, over and over. This is unlike her first song to get its hooks in me, “Everything Familiar,” from her previous album, The Crossing. The tales are carefully honed, and unravel with a steady, stately grace. Meg’s newest CD, The Living Side, for me, is a slow seduction. I thought, “It’s a perfect match for her sound.” The picture I chose for this first page reminds me of a George Hurrell Hollywood photograph from the 1940s. It’s the aural equivalent of having very expensive imported chocolate melt on your tongue - a velvety, bittersweet tone that carries with it all the pain and all the dreams in her life.Īs I was building the layout of this feature article, I found myself unprepared for the iconic beauty I encountered in the photos by Asia Kepka on Meg Hutchinson’s website.