
Flock of Dimes - The Life You Save (Album Review) - Stereoboard
Photo: Elizabeth Weinberg
Jenn Wasner launched Flock of Dimes as a solo project in 2011, seeking to explore the more atmospheric and experimental side of songwriting and recording outside the success of beloved folk indie-rockers Wye Oak.
But her remarkable new album, the third under the alias, strips back the production to minimal synths and electric guitars, focusing on the most direct songs of her career. Its 12 haunting tracks delve the depths of addiction and co-dependency, inherited and experienced trauma, and the process of finding peace in the face of others’ suffering.
Her emotions laid bare, Wasner’s extraordinary vocals are placed front and centre. Sometimes she sounds optimistic, the songs serving as a mantra. Elsewhere, she sounds broken. It’s a profound, deliberate choice to leave the humanity in.
Jenn Wasner launched Flock of Dimes as a solo project in 2011, seeking to explore the more atmospheric and experimental side of songwriting and recording outside the success of beloved folk indie-rockers Wye Oak.
But her remarkable new album, the third under the alias, strips back the production to minimal synths and electric guitars, focusing on the most direct songs of her career. Its 12 haunting tracks delve the depths of addiction and co-dependency, inherited and experienced trauma, and the process of finding peace in the face of others’ suffering.
Her emotions laid bare, Wasner’s extraordinary vocals are placed front and centre. Sometimes she sounds optimistic, the songs serving as a mantra. Elsewhere, she sounds broken. It’s a profound, deliberate choice to leave the humanity in.