Secret Meeting score: 85
by Joseph Purcell
After the psychedelic infused hybrid folk of her 2016 debut, 222, Odetta Hartman returns with her second long play, Old Rockhounds Never Die- an album that displays the talents of a wonderfully unique and progressive artist. Influenced by the surroundings of her New York, East Village upbringing and exposure to a fusion of influences from theatre to dance, punk to hip hop, and poetry to street art, Hartman innovates and experiments with sounds, timings and samples to create a remarkable record. One that is anchored by the hollow breakneck banjo played so expertly throughout and integrates the Appalachian Folk of summers spent with her grandparents in West Virginia.
It is not only with her vocal pitch that Hartman excels. She also plays an army of instrumentation across Old Rockhounds Never Die, including banjos, violins, harps, guitars and pianos, as well as using a variety of DIY instrumentation such as kitchen bowls and field recordings of Icelandic Seagulls. This is best demonstrated on The Ocean – a magically transformative piece of seductive art that brings to mind such greats as Cat Power, Lucinda Williams and Joanna Newsom.
From the opening echo fused howls of Old Rockhounds to the half paced vocal feedback of Closer (Still Alive), Hartman’s journey across her musical influences twists, turns, thrills and excites over fifteen tracks of bubbling musical ideas. The futuristic Beta Band-esque space folk of the wonderful You You proceeds the mesmeric lead single, Widows Peak- a song filled with creeping, eerie acoustic guitars, and another example of Hartman’s desire to break from convention. Auto is thirty seconds of shimmering delight, conjuring the image of a pond rippling after the disturbance of its tranquillity, while Smoke Break is 59 seconds of joyful Caribbean steel drums and the spacious gravel scratch of maracas.
On an album of highlights, two tracks of contrasting sound, structure and grace form its peak. Sweet Teeth, with its poignant understated manner, caresses and floats over the listener- moving from a stark beginning to the ultimate conclusion of a song that becomes a driving disco laced beat. While the euphoric Misery is a creation that would be more than at home on a Tarantino soundtrack- with the trademark gunshots and bar fights of a spaghetti western against its backdrop of aggressive punk.
Old Rockhounds Never Die is a bold step by Hartman. And with her producer and partner, Jack Inslee, she has created a magnificent patchwork of songs that are daring, vibrant and fresh. Her ability to manipulate both sounds and instrumentation shows an exceptional level of talent and, in marriage with her chameleonic vocal abilities, she has produced one of the summer’s most unheralded musical high points. Hartman is never bowed or controlled by her ideas, but instead conducts them like a sorceress at the height of her powers. This courage separates her from the crowd and, as one of the most intriguing and exciting artists to watch out for in the future, we eagerly await her next turn.
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