Review: Lael Neale – I’ll Be Your Man

Lael Neale
I’ll Be Your Man

Liberal Arts
Street: 07.10
Lael Neale = Nico + Feist

For just under 42 minutes, Lael Neale mixes styles of folk and indie pop. The debut album, I’ll Be Your Man, consists of singer-songwriter Lael Neale on vocals, guitar and piano. Her voice, distant and longing, epitomizes a dreamy-sounding psych-folk vibe, but not without help in the background: Marlon Rabenreither (background vocals, guitar, lap steel, toy piano, harmonica, harmonium, percussion), Carlos Laszlo (drums, percussion), Tommy Schobel (drums, percussion), Kyle Vicioso (bass), Brady Leffler (organ), Erik Arvinder (violin) and John Schreffler (pedal steel). Together, these folks commit to a soft country twang; some songs sound beautifully alone and permissive, while others, like “Born in the Summer,” break it down with heavier electric guitar, irreverent and straightforward. I’ll Be Your Man forces one to feel something, even if it is to whisper, even if it is to scream. –Lizz Corrigan