My Pretty Little Mouse

Matthew Friedberger “Shirley”

Matthew Friedberger’s voice always seems to be a little different on his solo recordings than when he sings on Fiery Furnaces records. He’s a bit bolder with the Furnaces, his intonation is more blunt, sort of dense and blocky. I think this is because he writes those songs with and/or for his sister Eleanor, whose tone is always rather assertive. There’s a particular lyrical rhythm to those records, it’s very distinct and unusual and I think if you fall in love with it, you end up being a sucker for pretty much everything they do. His diction in his solo work isn’t dramatically different, but it lends itself to softer, grainier aspects of his voice. You hear more strain in his voice, more grit and character. There are some Furnaces songs where his voice reminds me a bit of Chris Eigeman in Whit Stillman’s movies, sort of brash and imperiously snarky, but he always seems smaller and more human when he’s alone. This isn’t always my favorite thing — he sort of recedes into a lot of Winter Women and Holy Ghost Language School where I’d prefer him to be much bigger and brasher. He has a much sharper presence in “Shirley”, the first track off of Napoleonette. As I’ve noticed in concert and on songs like “Inca Rag,” Friedberger’s voice is flattered by the piano, the characteristic tonality of that instrument just fits nicely with his natural tone, particularly when he’s banging out chunky yet finely articulated chords in a way that recalls Hunky Dory-era Bowie. There’s some surprising harmony in this composition too — I’m not totally certain, but at some points, it sounds like a regularly tuned piano is paired with a pleasantly shrill prepared piano part.

Buy a subscription to Matthew Friedberger’s series of solo albums from Thrill Jockey. Every two months, a new vinyl album will be sent to you, eventually resulting in an eight album box set. This song is from the first volume, Napoleonette.