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"Pity the fool who’d think of murdering Vivian Linden: with a voice like hers, she’s bound to come back as a ghost and haunt you. Linden’s instrument is reminiscent of Cat Power, Hope Sandoval, and Margo Timmons (of Cowboy Junkies), equal parts cracked and crystalline, gravel and gold dust, the kind you’d expect to hear drifting across the desert at sunset. Judging by the title of her debut album, “Watch the Light Fade,” and the dead flowers decorating its cover, Linden is fully aware of her gift, and employs to exquisite effect." - Plug In Music "Backed by a seasoned horde of Seattle musicians, Vivian Linden paints a dark, dreary backdrop on several of these songs so she can draw you in with her voice. And what a voice, one that sounds like a cross between Kathleen Edwards and Emmylou Harris, particularly on the stripped-down “Pass The Wires” as she sings about this life being unkind to her. Hers is a style that is definitely steeped in old-time country formats, especially with the pretty and poignant “I Fall To You”, and the slightly faster pace of “Bewitched”, that is a moody offering in the vein of Lucinda Williams. You will savor every minute of the tender, bittersweet and adorable “Breathless” that creeps along. Listeners might be put off by the fact that Linden opts to stay the course and offer up slightly different variations on what is essentially the same structure, but it’s done so damn well with gems like the haunting “Silver Light” and the equally stunning, dark and murky “Oh, My Lover”, that it’s not really up for debate. Fans of Grey Delisle would do themselves a great service picking this one up as Linden never lets up once on the record." - Jason MacNeil for PopMatters "Aquarius, good relationships with those you work and live with are especially vital to you. That's why when the domestic scene is tossed about, it's especially heartbreaking. Speaking of heartbreak, Tarnished Records seems to be the label also known as Heartbreak Hotel, cultivating a roster of artists aching for reprieve and redemption through their languid, lush torch tunes. Watch The Light Fade, the first full-length from Vivian Linden is a nine song stack of sadness, even when filled with temptation-trembling desire ("Breathless," "Silver Light"). These are ballads of erotic dreams and faithful devotions challenged, sung by a woman with the steady confidence of a C&W-raised female Sinatra." - Chris Estey for Three Imaginary Girls "Despite what the black and white album cover of the pale, raven-haired artist standing before a still sea might suggest, Vivian Linden isn’t this year’s big goth queen. While, yes, there is a distraught melancholy here that is synonymous with the genre, Watch the Light Fade is pure country-fueled Americana. Throughout this debut full-length permeates a beautiful sort of sorrow-filled hopefulness that one can’t help but be drawn to. Not only that, the entire album has a feel of one of those really calm thunderstorms that used to keep you up at night as a kid, those storms that eventually cleared up to reveal a ruby red sky. Just a few of the notable tracks here include the atmospheric yet twangy opening number “Pass the Wires”; the sassy, classic country-like and lonesome tune "I Fall to You"; and the hauntingly sexy "Bewitched". Not to be overlooked, however, are the sweet and tender "Breathless" and the Grapes of Wrath fell of "Oh My Lover". By album’s end, Linden waxes nostalgic with "Going Back to Houston" and never straying too far from the formula, the closer sounds every bit as fresh as "Pass the Wires" did. While admittedly not a perfect record (a few of the tracks do drag on a bit, especially for an album that is only nine songs long), Watch the Light Fade is an admirable debut from an artist who can come on like a rainstorm and touch your heart at the same time. Let’s see a goth princess do that." - Dean Ramos for Venus Magazine "A new singer/songwriter joins the sisterhood of Americana earth mothers... y'know, those wonderful ladies Paula Frazer, Laura Cantrell, Kelly Hogan, Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies, and Sally Timms. Each artist possesses a richly nuanced voice -- affecting the listener not with flash and glamour, but with understated elegance and vividly scripted personalized lyrics. As the title suggests this album has an ever darkening mood. Much like the seasonal overcast skies of the Pacific Northwest where she's based, Vivian Linden's music is somber with a slight aching chill. " - Aquarius Records "A beautiful debut album, steeped in a slow, mystical atmosphere." - Leo Katterstaart, Alt Country NL "In "Pass the Wires", the first of nine bluesily country tracks, Linden murmurs that "I am restless; I am sleepless; I am weary." Those qualities lace the entire album of sorrow-soaked slow songs, shot through with Cowboy Junkies and embroidered with Mazzy Star. Singing of "love, lust, lonesomeness and loss," Linden's plaintiveness recalls a deeper-voiced Iris Dement or Emmylou Harris. If you like your music darkly acoustic and sweetly bitter, add this to your collection. " - Meredith, 75 or Less Sept. 2006 "Shaped by the shadowy pedal steel, Vivian’s compositions possess a classic country feel, but her sultry and seductive vocals are more reminiscent of a late night jazz diva in a smoky bar while the song structures flirt shamelessly with pop formulas and appeal. She delivers a warm and hopeful, albeit esoteric, spin on a world that can get admittedly cold. Conjuring images of leaving big cities at night in search of mountains, you can almost see your discarded cigarette bouncing sparks off of the dark highway as you speed off to nowhere in particular. There’s an all too real desperation in her voice that tells you this woman has lived and when she sings “There’s a lonesomeness that I’ve longed for” on the opening track, “Pass the Wires”, you feel yourself hoping for her sweet release. Lyrically, Vivian is (and I never use this term loosely) Buckley-esque- shaping intimate tales of heartbreak and freedom in one breath, but never giving too much away- you feel her pain and remorse, but does she? Unlike many of her female contemporaries, Vivian finds empowerment in metaphors, cryptic memories and bar stools. She never relies too heavily on confessional rants about how broken her frail little heart is. She also never postures as some independent tough chick, she’s a real person and not ashamed of it. The influx of pretty chicks with guitars could learn a lot from the personality and depth Vivian puts into every song. A product of Emmylou, Neko, Shelby and Loretta, Vivian sets the standard for tough yet vulnerable from here on out." - Relative Theory Records |