Lately, my picks have all been male artists and it was feeling like high time to revisit my (your?) girlier side. Marla Hansen, who sings soft and quiet folk-inspired songs and is also part of team-Sufjan-My-Brightest-Diamond, is a perfect return. She sounds like tea and flowers and a good book in bed when you are tired. Oddly positioned on my iTunes next to Marlene Dietrich’s raspy, vaguely mannish “Sag Mir Wo Die Blumen Sind”, “Wedding Day” felt like something we women can celebrate our peculiar chromosomal dispositions to and her tone is something that the men can daydream about (note: no letching)–even more so from the comparison to Dietrich. Hansen has a honeyed voice and sings delicious little songs as though she were singing to herself, for herself. There’s no clever hook here, no steamrolling vocals, no unexpectedly jarring electronic sounds, just simple, strong singing, songwriting and her viola. And throughout, she is exquisitely feminine. It’s charming.
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Great pick! I really liked the track “Shuffle Your Feet.” In some ways, the viola reminded me of Final Fantasy covering Joanna Newsom.
Thanks for pointing her out. What a treat to the ears.