For the past fifteen years, Patty Larkin has quietly gone about fashioning one of folk-pop’s most impressive bodies of work. Actually “folk-pop” is probably too restrictive a term, as the Boston-based singer-songwriter likes to paint outside the lines of that construct, often imbuing her songs with nuances drawn from jazz and world music, and adding modern touches such as tape loops and treated vocals. She’s also a superb guitarist and a lyricist of subtle power.
Red = Luck mines musical terrain similar to what Larkin began exploring on her 1997 album Perishable Fruit. The opening track, “All That Innocence”, sets the tone for much of what follows. Against a backdrop of ghostly, layered guitars and soft, looped percussion, Larkin conjures up quiet yearning in a throaty voice that brings to mind a slightly less languid Margo Timmins. “The Cranes” and “Italian Shoes” are similar fare, the former a soundscape rumination on love’s risks, the latter a girlishly light commentary on (mis)communication.
Other high points include “Home”, a candlelit ballad with an idiosyncratic melody, and “Normal”, a harrowing lament written shortly after September 11. Larkin occasionally cuts loose with a full-bore rocker — the Bonnie Raitt-like “Too Bad” and the harmonica-laced “Louder” being the best examples — but even the uptempo songs tend to glide rather than soar — a good thing.
