Kris Delmhorst - Strange Conversation

Kris Delmhorst's sixth studio recording is clearly a bit of a departure for the young Bostonian singer/songwriter. Known mostly these days for the type of thickly poetic lyrics that so characterized the folks to whom she's often compared – Joni Mitchell and Dar Williams. Delmhorst's original songs, in fact, are easily the type of tunes that can bring a room full of people from a hissing bustle to near silence.

Thanks to Richard Browning

On Strange Conversation, Delmhorst decided to explore the work of other poets: ee cummings, Virgil, Richard Browning, Walt Whitman, and Rumi, to name a few.

According to Delmhorst, she'd had the idea for this album floating around her head for quite some time. She thought it would be a fun exercise for her as a songwriter to commit to a dozen original tunes set as the framework for some of the most timeless classic poems.

Then she started toying with the tune for "Galuppe Baldassare" based on a poem by Richard Browning ("A Tocata of Galuppi's"). "[At that point] it was supposed to just be an exercise for me, ... not actually something anyone would ever hear ... but then that poem by Richard browning – it's hard to explain – but it [sort of] reached off the page and grabbed me."

Where the Songs Came From

After that night, Delmhorst started actively looking around for other poems to sing. "I didn't even know George Eliot wrote poetry," she says of the song inspired by Eliot's – "Invisible Choir." "[But then] one of my neighbors was getting rid of some books, and he told me I could have any of them that I wanted. When I went up there, I found this poetry anthology that had some poems by George Eliot. [The book] was literally about to be thrown out with the trash."

Most of the poems, she'd already had some sort of relationship with. She was a long-time fan of the great poet Rumi, for example, and it only made sense that she include her adaptation of his work in the collection.

So ... How'd She Do?

There are a couple of moments where the adaptations feel a little off from the originals, but in a very interesting songwriterly sort of way. For example, ee cummings' "Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town" (the song – "Pretty How Town") is a sorrowful poem about searching for identity, honesty, and love; while also commenting on the impersonal nature of modern cities and towns.

Delmhorst's adaptation feels more like a hoe-down, and is sung with a proverbial twinkle in her eye. It almost feels like an old cheeky Vaudeville number, wherein the woman singing would slyly stick in a tongue-in-cheek joke at the end of what otherwise appears to be a serious verse.

Conversely, her adaptation of Lord Byron's "We'll Go No More A-Roving" is a lovely, touching waltz that portrays all of the sadness and heartache of the masterful poem itself.

The title track and it's accompanying tune about the life and death of the great Greek poet Virgil creates the most moving moment on the record. Delmhorst claims these two tunes are "at the heart, really, of what the album is about."

The Bottom Line

Delmhorst is a fantastic songwriter, and Strange Conversation is an outstanding experiment on her part. Bibliophiles everywhere will be curious and rightfully pleased by her efforts, and folks unfamiliar with these classics will likely also be moved.

It's not easy to take classic poetry – a thing that is often skipped over by people who didn't study English in college, due to language that superficially seems dry and obsolete – and turn it into contemporary folk music. Delmhorst, however, makes the translation feel and sound effortless and natural.

The aptly titled album furthers the "strange conversation" between artists and writers of all generations – the way they inspire and incite each other further into their own individual crafts. Delmhorst's inspiration here will no doubt pass on to other songwriters, continuing the conversation for years to come.