Rockabilly¹ artist Edith Frost sings from the past
By John Staton, Morning Star Correspondent

For Chicago-based singer/songwriter Edith Frost, they just don’t write ‘em like they used to.

"I collect really old-timey stuff," Ms. Frost says, speaking from her home in Chicago during a phone interview.  "My mom actually has a cylinder player and a Victrola, and so when I was growing up I was hearing really, really antique music.  So it’s in me.  I think the earliest songs that were recorded are some of the best tunes that you can find."

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.)

Keepin’ It Real
Singer-songwriter Edith Frost seeks perfect imperfection

You’d think (John Lennon certainly did) that people would have had enough of silly love songs. The general public is offered the bulk of its music in four-minute televised blips of celebrated alienation courtesy of Pro Tools and some guy who can’t come to grips with his (pick one) stardom / family / fans / friends / groupies.

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.