The Foundling Review in The Daily Dose
17 May
Confessional albums are certainly nothing new in the singer/songwriter idiom, but there’s a continuum. I mean, there are personal songs, and then there are songs that take your breath away with their honesty. Mary Gauthier’s seventh album,The Foundling, will leave you gasping for 46 minutes and 37 seconds.
Gauthier has lived a life straight out of a country song — she spent her 18th birthday in jail; she opened a Cajun restaurant in Boston; she didn’t start writing songs until she was in her 30s — but all those colorful details pale beforeThe Foundling, which tells her most personal story. Given up for adoption shortly after birth, Gauthier struggled with what she calls “the ‘orphan feeling’” for most of her life. At the age of 45, she was finally successful in finding her birth mother, only to discover that she’d kept Gauthier’s existence a secret from everyone in her life, including her deceased husband and grown children. Denied a meeting, Gauthier had to heal herself the only way she knew how: with music.
It’s a sad story, but make no mistake, The Foundling is a cathartic album; it’s shot through with mournfulness and a desperate longing to be loved, but there’s a grace to the sadness. There’s no bitterness here, only unblinking reflection. When she sings “I still believe in love” toward the end, you know Gauthier has come by that belief the hard way, and you feel richer for sharing her journey. Heartbroken, but richer. And heartbroken in a good way — it’s important to stress that even though The Foundling probes a profound wound in its creator’s heart, it’s a warm, uplifting piece of work, and one drawn across the spectrum of Gauthier’s musical roots. You hear a lot of country-inflected folk, with high harmonies and keening, whipsawing fiddles, but there are also hints of her New Orleans heritage (the drunken carousel of “Sideshow”) and moments of pure, stark, simple beauty (“Blood Is Blood,” “Walk in the Water”). And the album’s emotional centerpiece — the one-sided conversation “March 11, 1962? — will cut you wide open.
It isn’t the kind of album that’s destined to be a hit, obviously. But if songwriting matters to you, and you look to music to move you, then The Foundling is a gift you’ll cherish for a good, long while.
Amstelkerk Amsterdam 06-06-2010 How happy we are that we came to this concert. Heartmoving, in a way very silent but deepfeeling lyrics and music. Prachtig
I was at your concert in Paradiso on November 26th, 2006 and tonite will be my second sharing with you. ‘Live’ in the Amstel Church in Amsterdam. Since 2006 your music and lyrics have had a great impact on me and they have enriched my life in many ways. For that I thank you.
I am SO looking forward to tonight!
I just finished listening to “The Foundling” for the second time and I believe it’s one of the most important records to be released so far this century. There’s not a more provocative songwriter out there, and her previous albums are some of the best I’ve ever heard. It’s a shame that more people haven’t discovered her but most people are just interested in the “flavor of the month”. Keep writing and recording, Mary, and I’ll keep listening.
In Northampton, MA, Mary did quite a bit of “The Foundling”. We were so happy that she shared with us. One song in particular, called “Sideshow”. I was eight feet from Mary while she performed at Bellows Falls, VT, and that was special. But I am so anticipating my copy of “The Foundling”. In the meantime, I cannot get “Drag Queens and Limosines” off the CD player. Mind you, I am a 62 year old grandfather. I just love what she delivers.