My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Sharks Teeth
Asthmatic Kitty Records/Spunk!
By Brooke Salisbury
Shara Worden's voice is brooding and brilliant and as My Brightest Diamond she combines classical and experimental in a dark and delightful way. While her music is atmospheric, she summons femininity in her strong and spirited warble. Operatic drums and heaving piano take lead on A Thousand Shark's Teeth, while delicate strings and sombre woodwinds set the loneliest of tones.
Production is distant and her voice sits behind the beautifully arranged instrumentals in all its strength and character. Teeth and diamonds conjure the kind of razor sharp and forceful imagery that walk hand in hand with Worden's icy voice, though while the record is undeniably cold it's certainly breathtaking.
It's no surprise Warden runs in the same circles as Sufjan Stevens and the talented Padma Newsome of The National. It's these links to intelligent pop that define the classically trained vocalist, whose music continually references extensive vocal training and elaborate avant-garde arrangements. And it's not enough to simply enlist the extensive instruments present on the album - each structure is complex and rarely repeated. She entwines haunting melodies and shattering vocals in a manner that justifies the Jeff Buckley comparisons thrust on the artist's style. There's a little Joan As Policewoman to her emotionally loaded ballads, though Worden's words are masked in double meaning and allusion where Wasser is elegantly forward.
As a sophomore effort, she builds on MBD's first effort, Bring Me The Workhorse in style and presence, which is no mean feat considering the chamber-indie crossover pioneered within the debut. Shark's Teeth confirms everything Workhorse suggested - as a vocalist Worden holds her own with supremacy and as a band My Brightest Diamond's vision is crystal clear.