Where are you going, where have you been?
I admit I am a huge অনুরাগী of their work and also find them extremely charming on a personal level. There's a catch here, though, and it is the reason I'm লেখা this article.
In my opinion, the Indigo Girls can and should be even bigger than they are. I don't mean I want them to eat a basket of curly fries for a month. I mean they need to be knocking other artists out of the ballpark. Like a duo of Bob Dylans dusted with just the right balance of careful songcraft and soulful, spontaneous melody carefully balanced দ্বারা just the right production values for the recording.
My fandom does not disrupt my critical ear. As a musician myself, I listen very carefully to both the structural content of a song as well as the সামগ্রিক sound and feel of the work. This is where my complaint arises, and I beg all die-hard অনুরাগী to forgive me for getting academic about this, but there are times when.....
I listen to an Indigo Girls song and I think to myself "My God, the words, the intent...if only they didn't have someone playing Casio keyboard maracas in the background to this song it would make people like Joni Mitchell and Janis Ian realize the bar has been raised. Heck, it might even make U2 and The Smiths lay down their chorus and delay pedals and think for a moment about how to hit someone in the হৃদয় with nothing আরো than raw melody.."
I first had this reaction upon listening to Strange Fire, but their Indigo Girls debut album hit the mark in many ways with gems such as "Kid Fears" and "History of Us". As a teenager, I fell in প্রণয় with Nomads, Indians and Saints (thinking of 'Welcome Me', 'World Falls' and "Girl With the Weight of the World in Her Hands). "World Falls", in particular, has an anthemic quality that manages to transcend multiple genres yet remain easily accessible as an acoustic power ballad. Pretty impressive if আপনি ask me.
Let's use Rites of Passage as another example, since that's the album where I first started to প্রশ্ন who the Indigo Girls were working with and why.
To be honest, the production values for that album were not bad, but they didn't do justice to the songs in a way that would've expanded the Girls' reach to a broader audience. Case in point is Emily Saliers' delightfully fey "Airplane." If আপনি catch NPR on a whimsical DJ day, they might play that song. But I invite everyone to listen to it the পরবর্তি time September 11th rolls around and the nation's focus is on the horrible tragedy of the twin towers terrorist attacks. I'm sure that was the farthest thing from her mind when she wrote it, but it's poignancy is unmatched in context.
And what of songs like "Jonas and Ezekial?" Moody, great rhythmic lines, pertinent message. Yet hardly anyone mentions it when discussing their work as a whole. And as a Texan, I'd give my last dime to drunkenly boot scoot to Ray's "Nashville" at some place like Adair's অথবা Lee's Silver Fox, but I'd have to bring the song in myself on a pre-burned cd.
And that type of "almost struck at the right time" feeling is something I get from them over and over. They are artists but their craft carries political power. I hate to sound conspiratorial but sometimes I wonder whether "Closer to Fine" marked the Indigo Girls 'world moment' and someone, somewhere very quickly said: "Please keep them off mainstream radio in the future."
My dream is that some দিন the whole world will truly feel the message and the sensibilities of the individuals behind the songs. The Indigo Girls write songs that make আপনি think and have a good time. Like Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In the Wind", আপনি never forget the first time আপনি heard Closer to Fine অথবা saw the girls staring into your eyes on MTV, strumming their guitars like secret weapons. It didn't matter who অথবা where আপনি were, আপনি just knew this was something special that slipped through the cracks of big-hair and Aquanet neon politcial sensibilities.
I would invite anyone who works closely with them to think carefully about the selection of sound engineers and producers. It is time to break free from the mold of "good enough folk-pop". Their সঙ্গীত and message deserves so much more.
Take the time go back to the beginning and rethink the subtleties. Listen to "When It Was Up To You" from 'Strange Fire'. There is a moment in that song when Amy sings "You don't need to hear my voice." There's nothing but vocals and carefully balanced acoustic guitars there, but it's a moment in the song rife with power. Now compare it to "Shame On You", which is still technically a great song but totally lacking the raw emotional power of earlier recordings.
Call me picky, call me a dilettante, call me whatever আপনি want, but I think it's these types of discrepancies that are reason the Indigo Girls are slowly falling into 'cult favorite' status instead of edging the likes of Bono and Mumford and Sons out of the VIP champagne line at the Grammy's.
There's a fine line between commercial smoothness and Indie sensibilities, I don't deny that. But having the right magician at the controls can help them walk that line.
If I had anything আরো than three chords and the truth I'd call them up myself and offer to record that পরবর্তি album. Meanwhile, may I suggest the Indigo Girls ditch their current production team and do something totally contrary? Work with someone like Prince, Daniel Lanois, Steve Lillywhite, Stephen Street? Actually, I could think of no better way to combine the alt rock of Amy and the pop-funk of Emily than দ্বারা having them work with someone like Prince অথবা The Smith's Stephen Street. Preferably both. But with a very portly Alfred Hitchcock meets Winston Churchill character sitting in observance of the whole process, randomly crying "blasphemy! thou shall not descry an ascending minor melodic melody via yet another penny whistle!"
Amy needs someone to channel her darker rock sensibilities into something Machiavellian. Emily has pop-hooks out the wazoo like she's re-incarnated Leonard Bernstein and would turn heads letting that freak flag between "Soul Man" upbeat funk and something a tad darker.
Really, what I'd like to see someone do is blend the Indigo Girls into a monstrosity of musical genius. I will pray to whatever মুসে might play a role in making this dream come true. For now, may my words crawl across the screen and into someone's dream.
