Karen Marrolli: “Twilight Songs” – profound, cerebral and creative singer-songwriter music

Karen Marrolli is a singer-songwriter based in Santa Fe, NM. Her songwriting is autobiographical and stems from influences that range from piano-driven singer-songwriters such as Tori Amos and Regina Spektor to the acoustic folk sounds of Americana and Irish Traditional Music. A classically-trained composer and conductor, Karen came to embrace songwriting as a way to give voice to fighting personal demons. She describes the songs as a means of “mending things that have been torn”. Karen’s latest 2015 EP, “Twilight Songs”, follows the releases of “Evolution” and “Moonrise” in 2014.

“Twilight Songs” features Karen Marrolli on vocals, guitar and piano, as well as Chase Morrison who beautifully colors each track with the sound of the Cello. The album was recorded and mixed by Bill Palmer at Frogville Studio in Sante Fe.

Karen Marrolli’s skill as a pianist and guitarist is formidable and she steps into her own as a competent musical rival to all of her contemporaries. She bends her instruments to her will and holds them spellbound. Karen’s strong folk roots give this album a distinguished flair you won’t find anywhere else in the last or the next decade – if not somewhere between legendary artists like Joan Baez and Tori Amos. She is melancholy, she is hopeful, yet absolutely her own, a complete and fulfilled human being who can’t help but keep marching on, no matter what.

Taking the less traveled, ‘long and winding’ emotional road, has left Karen to fine-tune and craft a passion that her contemporaries trade in for settled stability – she stays vital, restless and alive. Her talent ripens, and is so beautifully bitter-sweet it will leave you salivating and craving more than just the 4 tracks present on “Twilight Songs”.

From when the Ep opens with “Rain”, Karen never rushes things. Her voice varies from gentle, flexible, supple melodicism on “Stay”, to sweet and plaintive soul on “Santuary” and “I Know the Angels”. She is powerful, and she is in control.

“Twilight Songs” is not an over-compressed, over-produced cookie-cutter record to appease the simple-minded masses. This is a work of exquisite art straight from Karen’s heart. Another unique aspect of this album is the interesting Cello soundscapes performed by Chase Morrison which adds that surrealist dimension to the intimacy of Karen’s songs.

All across “Twilight Songs”, Karen Marrolli is at her most authentic and best – profound, cerebral and creative. The EP is a comprehensive experience itself, making cherry-picking tracks a desecration of the entire work. Sit down, press play and melt into its compelling emotion.