DarkBlueWorld

Singer/poet/visual artist Elizabeth Fischer mines the rich veins of inspiration found in the netherworlds of wounded/fractured consciousness, thwarted dreams and modern-day alienation. "I Looked For You" details the piercing thorns of a consuming but destructive mutual attraction, mounted upon a scaffold of resounding guitar riffs and throbbing drums/bass locks. The 11 tracks are superbly arranged by guitarist Gord Grdina, who intertwines both clean and overdriven lines with fellow guitarist Chad Macquarrie to build orchestrations of operatic grandeur, as well as whisper-in-your-ear intimacy. The cautionary tale of "Tracking the Detectives" is an exceptionally strong track. Within its hallucinatory, Brechtian cabaret vibe, Fischer warns "the meek always pay," although that seems unlikely in her case. "Driftaway" has a reverb-drenched guitar vamp on which the vocal floats, registering romanticized renunciation and abjection: losers triumph through loss; outsiders "belong" more truly than social centrists. It takes a special gift to make dismal enchanting. DarkBlueWorld do it brilliantly.