Listen: Flock of Dimes - "The Sisters"/Madeline Kenney - "Helpless"

photo by DL Anderson

I was introduced to now Durham based singer/songwriter and former member of Oakland collective Trails and Ways Madeline Kenney as a solo artist last year due largely in part to the role Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak/Flock of Dimes had in producing her sophomore album Perfect Shapes. Her lead single "Cut Me Off" was a such pitch perfect piece of vibrant guitar pop that I was instant on board and made sure to check in occasionally to see else she had up her sleeve.

Considering how closely they worked together: with Kenney living with Wasner out in Durham as they engineered Perfect Shapes, it's hardly surprising that two would stumble upon a kindred enough connection to collaborate further and the two wrote and recorded a split 7" together. The 7" is essentially a conversation of sorts between Wasner and Kenney as they navigate their positions as women in a male dominated industry. Wasner, an industry veteran for more than a decade, who at one time was so averse to being tokenized as the "woman guitarist" crafted a whole Wye Oak album without it to demonstrate her other talents and strengths, offers us a gauzy, obfuscation in "The Sisters". It is multitudinous in its production as driving bass lines, lithe guitar riffs, Wasner's aching, craning vocals, and a synth sheen are all blended into a hazy miasma of melancholy. 



Kenney's part of the dialogue, "Helpless", is a sort of tongue-in-cheek but certainly no less sincere bit of roleplay. Vulnerability is the mark of any gifted songwriter but seems to be expected of any/every female songwriter and Kenney casts herself in that role: "Look me over, I am helpless" she coos and if her songwriting on Perfect Shapes' didn't reveal her as versatile songwriter/guitarist equally capable of vulnerability and fearlessness in equal measure, it might be easy to take the 7" track as characteristic, partially added by Kenney more or less playing her role straight. The lightness and ease that define much of Perfect Shapes is present with Kenney relying on lyrical specificity rather than verbosity. "What if they see me or worse believe me?" Kenney sings before a layered outro begins where verses are stacked upon each other and essentially are left to battle for dominance in a surprisingly orderly fashion. And it seems a worthwhile indication of Kenney's struggle in accepting the role of the helpless woman trope with her being perceived as truly a damsel in distress as the worst possible case scenario. It's a track of beguiling simplicity with Kenney's featherlight vocals providing an interesting contrast to Wasner's more grounded ones.



"The Sisters"/"Helpless" digital 7" is out now and with physical edition available from Carpark Records on April 16th. You can pre-order now.