In 1999, in a review of Edith Frost’s second full-length, Telescopic, David Keenan wrote in Wire magazine, "It’s rumored that the album was originally fully orchestrated, but Drag City ordered it to be stripped back to basics.*  Now there’s a potential bootleg worth killing for, if only to hear Frost nuzzling up to strings."  Keenan must be thrilled by Frost’s latest album, Wonder Wonder, also on Drag City, which has no shortage of strings.  It is, in a word, lush.

As Edith Frost’s latest album makes clear, she is a very talented woman.  First, she knows how to make warm country pop that could melt just about anyone, even her notoriously cold sound engineer, Steve Albini.  Second, her voice can croon like Patsy Cline or whine like Liz Phair, sounding equally strong and convincing in either style.  Third, she has impeccable taste in session musicians, who this time include Sea and Cake’s Archer Prewitt, Wilco’s Glenn Kotche and Eleventh Dream Day’s Rick Rizzo.  Last, but certainly not least, she is from Texas.  (OK, that’s not a talent, but it’s still cool.)

Eyes & Ears - Edith Frost

Struggling to find a way to describe Edith Frost is perfectly natural when you consider the circumstances.  A thirty-something native Texan who has stopped off for several years in Brooklyn and now calls Chicago her home, Frost recently released her third set of original folksy pop/country songs, Wonder Wonder, on the Chicago indie label Drag City.

A voice this mighty in its own wee way can only come from Texas.  Sure enough, Frost hails from the Lone Star State and pays tribute to it on the foot-tapping "Cars and Parties."  Intelligently written, it could be an anthem if it weren’t smartly bouyed by somber strings.  The rest of Wonder Wonder is comparatively downbeat, comprised of quiet folk songs with a twisted wit.  The title track is wonderfully disorienting, while "Dreamers" is simply gorgeous.

From her ’70s logo to her mellowest sleepy ballads, Edith Frost can reach from the depths of her diaphragm like Will Oldham but also bring it up to a cuter tone. The sound of country, a little folk, and some lullabies make up this album. It’s an easy-listener. Some songs are acoustic guitar-led with side musician help, and others are full-on band songs that can get eerie at times. Wonder Wonder takes listeners into familiar Drag City territory. It’s sedating and hypnotic.

I didn’t like Edith Frost’s debut ep from a few years ago then loved her debut lp Calling Over Time. The bits I heard of her next record, Telescopic and now comes this, Wonder Wonder and she’s back on track: I love it! I guess I should buy every other record she releases. Frost paints pictures in the singer-songwriter vein and does so w/ a lovely voice (not unlike a Liz Phair w/ a slightly country feel) guitars strummed into minor chord heaven, and a twinkle of piano here and there. "Cars and Parties" and "Hear My Heart" are both whispery and lovely while the title track shuffles along at an oom-pah beat. When she gets a bit louder and more dramatic (ie: like on "The Fear") I like it less and I still think Calling Over Time is her masterpiece but Wonder Wonder has many high points too and just adds another feather in Edith’s already loaded cap.

A charming torch-song masterpiece from this non-chirpy chanteuse, Wonder Wonder recalls the golden days of the pre-Lilith era — think incandescent albums like Cath Carroll’s True Crime Hotel and Jenny Mae’s There’s A Bar Around The Corner… Asshole and even lesser lights like Lida Husik and you’d be on the right track.  Edith Frost is the possessor of a dusky pair of pipes, and she knows a thing or two about arrangements, making songs like the title cut absolutely irresistible trinkets of new-wave bumpkinism.  Supported by delicate underpinnings of guitar and piano, Frost’s sweet voice proves itself a dynamic vehicle for either the weepy backporch lament of "Hear My Heart" or the waltz-like dirge of "The Fear."  Throughout, she warbles with implacable richness and beauty and the kind of unaffected charm that’s as soothing as a mouthful of warm honey.  Wonder Wonder is the album Liz Phair should’ve made after Exile In Guyville; its genuine maturity trumps high-gloss AOR over and over again.  Don’t miss it.

Sometimes feeling bad sounds pretty darn good. Frost’s third full-length album finds her wondering (repeatedly) about the possibilities and limitations of love. Some lines can border on the mawkish ("Let me melt into your starry eyes"), but most ring true, especially when filtered through Frost’s smoldering alto. Her vocals are a perfect match for the fireside intimacy of the acoustic, often country-inspired ballads that make up much of the album.

I can’t think of a better singer for this to happen to.  With two albums and a handful of EPs and singles released in the past six years, and twice that many years spent performing, it is time for Edith Frost to get a big push.  As a member of the Drag City roster, one can’t expect a promotional blitz on the scale of a Jennifer Lopez or a Missy Elliott, but there is a definite feeling that the label is completely behind Wonder Wonder.

EDITH FROST: Wonder Wonder (Drag City) ***
Since departing American-trad territory as a member of the Holler Sisters and Edith and Her Roadhouse Romeos, Chicago transplant Edith Frost has explored moody, contemplative songs with whispery aplomb. Her debut, Calling Over Time, showcased her cool, clear, dulcet-voiced take on Americana shaded with minor-key melodies reminiscent of an earthier early-’70s Joni Mitchell. Its follow-up, Telescopic, was an atmospheric affair that displayed a bleary-eyed, introverted psychedelia similar to Syd Barrett and Skip Spence. With Wonder Wonder, Frost finds the balancing act between the sounds of those albums, more in league with her 1999 single Love Is Real. The dozen songs are subtly powerful, implying emotional depth rather than spelling it out. By the finale, "You’re Decided," the strange hypnosis of the album has opened up matrices of memory and emotion, offering dusky refuge from troubling loves and losses in the lilt of Frost’s voice.

Chicagoan Edith Frost’s third album continues the path of heart-wrenching, introspective and beautiful songwriting, backed with simple, spare arrangements and her haunting, hint-of-twang voice. She comes by her portion of Southern country honestly, having toiled in several different country and Western swing bands before landing in the Windy City and on Drag City, following like-minded singer/songwriter Will Oldham. Frost isn’t nearly so lackadaisical and contrary as Oldham, and Wonder Wonder shines with some hope and brightness that makes it mellow but not dark. Members of Eleventh Day Dream, Sea and Cake and other Chicago notables appear to back her up, but Frost could caress her guitar and whisper in the corner and demand to be heard.

It is easy to like Edith Frost.  She designed her own web site (edithfrost.com).  She was signed to her record label, Drag City, after writing them a fan letter about Will Oldham.  She runs a mailing list just for her jokes (not the annoying chain letter kind, either).  Her lyrics are sincere and the music is simply amazing.  As my Jewish grandmother would say, "Vuts nawt to like?"

Moving onto another outstanding Drag City offering, let’s hear it for Edith Frost!  Wonder Wonder is her third LP, and maybe her best.  This CD blows the doors off, a neat trick for such a meticulously crafted, delicate and beautiful piece of work — can’t even feel the blow.

Drowsy… yet WOW-sy!

The Skinny:  Drag City may have some nearly despondent songwriters on its rosters, but boy, do they write some pretty songs.  Singer-songwriter Edith Frost has made three brilliant albums for DC: 1997’s "Calling Over Time," 1998’s "Telescopic" and 2001’s "Wonder Wonder."  There’s no getting around it–Frost’s songs are genuinely laced with sadness, even open bitterness.  But her idiosyncratic voice carries her well-chosen words well, if not eerily.  Frost (originally from Texas) has soaked up all kinds of flavors into her songwriting and production: A Chicago version of country twang surfaced on her acoustically rooted debut, and 1998’s "Telescopic" was a stylized revisiting of psychedelia.  While she’s collaborated with local hip producers and musicians (Jim O’Rourke, Archer Prewitt, Steve Albini), she hasn’t allowed anyone else to take over her show.  Though it’s said that Frost would rather let loose and play rockabilly, in the meantime her lonesome sound makes for riveting listening.

The Crowd:  Those hip to Drag City artists such as Smog, others who dig Frost from a roots angle.