Incarnadine
(independent)
Northampton native Carolyn Walker’s Incarnadine sifts in slowly, fueled by simple acoustic guitar and tastes of steel guitar. Her voice sounds older than you might expect, with a pleasantly breathy lower end. Her upper register is edgier, a little more at odds with the laid-back folkiness that drives her tunes, but she slides through her melodies gracefully, so it’s easy to go with their flow.
Walker colors within the lines of folk and rock singer/songwriterdom in the lyric department, writing almost exclusively about relationships, but she navigates inside those parameters with a winning confidence in delivery and in songwriting. The title track is a nice departure, pairing Fender Rhodes-esque keyboard with a distant, booming drum and high-pitched chimes. Walker’s vocals provide the rhythmic center, and the tune takes flight on its own quite different terms. It’s there especially that Walker’s music reveals a particularly distinctive direction.
Incarnadine came about in large part thanks to a Kickstarter campaign which brought her attention (and a contribution) from screenwriter, producer and director Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Avengers, Firefly), who also commissioned a song from Walker. That song, “Voices in My Head,” is the album’s fourth track. She celebrates the release of Incarnadine Jan. 15 at the Iron Horse.
