monica queen reviews for Ten Sorrowful Mysteries

MONICA QUEEN:
Colin Somerville: Scotland on Sunday
TEN SORROWFUL MYSTERIES
CREEPING BENT 063CD £13.99
Both fragile and fierce, this should
be in strong contention for solo
debut album of the year. Monica
Queen has made a record that
improbably brings Neil Young,
Joe Meek and The Crying Shames
together in terms of the atmosphere
and harmonies created here, for
which guitarist and producer Johnny
Smillie takes a great deal of credit.
The tone is set from the off with the
simplistic country let 'em down easy
of 'I'm Sorry Darling' sounding like it
is being beamed down from Telstar
in some distant musical galaxy.
Truly great records are those which
interest sufficiently on the first listening
to demand a second, and grow
progressively more intoxicating thereafter.
As the title suggests, this is no party
record, but is equally scornful of anything
approaching self pitying sentiment.
Queen's tremulous phrasing can be
beautifully affecting, making it near
impossible not be touched by songs
like 'Do Something Pretty' and 'Tear
Behind My Smile'. Once fully seduced
by the ethereal production, the good
thing that comes to those who wait is
the restrained epic 'Where Do You
Sleep'. Muted bells toll, Smillie's
guitar gently rages, and the minor
key chorus harmonies stand with the
best moments on Young's 'After The
Goldrush'. Of course this will never
make Monica a millionth of the
wealth generated by Dido's bland,
characterless debut, but boasts a
spiritual richness we can all bank on.


MONICA QUEEN: Colin Somerville: Scotland on Sunday TEN SORROWFUL MYSTERIES CREEPING BENT 063CD £13.99 Both fragile and fierce, this should be in strong contention for solo debut album of the year. Monica Queen has made a record that improbably brings Neil Young, Joe Meek and The Crying Shames together in terms of the atmosphere and harmonies created here, for which guitarist and producer Johnny Smillie takes a great deal of credit. The tone is set from the off with the simplistic country let 'em down easy of 'I'm Sorry Darling' sounding like it is being beamed down from Telstar in some distant musical galaxy. Truly great records are those which interest sufficiently on the first listening to demand a second, and grow progressively more intoxicating thereafter. As the title suggests, this is no party record, but is equally scornful of anything approaching self pitying sentiment. Queen's tremulous phrasing can be beautifully affecting, making it near impossible not be touched by songs like 'Do Something Pretty' and 'Tear Behind My Smile'. Once fully seduced by the ethereal production, the good thing that comes to those who wait is the restrained epic 'Where Do You Sleep'. Muted bells toll, Smillie's guitar gently rages, and the minor key chorus harmonies stand with the best moments on Young's 'After The Goldrush'. Of course this will never make Monica a millionth of the wealth generated by Dido's bland, characterless debut, but boasts a spiritual richness we can all bank on.	Monica Queen: Fiona Sheppard:The Scotsman Ten Sorrowful Mysteries Silver **** Creeping Bent, £13.99 MONICA Queen is a homegrown acoustic troubadour who avoids the pitfalls of polite folky strumming on this emotional solo debut. Queen previously country-rocked in Glaswegian quartet Thrum but has turned the volume right down on Ten Sorrowful Mysteries, so fans of her gale-force voice will need to make a sharp re-adjustment to her now-dulcet tones. There is no less potency in her brave new musical world, which is suffused with beautifully-judged tender melancholy. John Smillie's plangent, aching guitar and Queen's lovelorn voice make a spine-tingling combination which is sustained throughout. Ten Sorrowful Mysteries is one simple, engaging idea, explored from a number of angles - whether on the devotional hymn State Of Grace or the bittersweet ambivalence of I'm Sorry Darling, there is the same quality of vulnerability. The ingrained influence of their hero Neil Young is also prevalent, particularly on the plaintive Where Do You Sleep which brings this moving album to an immaculate close.
Netrhythm Review by Mike Davies: Last heard sharing vocals on the Belle & Sebastian single Lazy Line Painter Jane, the former Thrum vocalist reunites with her old guitarist Johnny Smillie as sole musical companion for this wonderful debut album of sublime folksy pop. Blessed with a fragile yet stoical voice that's been called a blend of Emmy Lou, Buffy St Marie and Hope Sandoval but which I'd also add - though obviously she sounds nothing like him - Roy Orbison (a comparison you'll understand once you hear Do Something Pretty which sounds like I Don't Want To Talk About It meets Crying), she dresses her delicate songs in washes of isolation tank electronics that seep inside you to massage your soul. It's the feel of bathing in crystal waterfalls surrounded by the scents of pine and cinnamon. Affairs of the heart and spirit take centre stage, the songs haunted with mystery, passion, vulnerability, regret and acceptance, and while it seems almost like betraying lovers to single any out for special favouritism, it's impossible not to listen to the aching I'm Sorry Darling, State of Grace, Tear Behind My Smile or the Morricone influenced Where Do You Sleep without falling into an intoxicating reverie of narcotic bliss. As the title suggests, this is a religious experience.
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