Brigid Mae Power — Dream from the Deep Well (Fire)
Photo by Eva Carolan
Dream from the Deep Well by Brigid Mae Power
Brigid Mae Power sings like a phosphorescent flame, her tones flickering, swelling and subsiding, slipping effortlessly over shifting notes and stretching single syllables over fluttering melodic phrases. Her voice, pure and high with a lemon-y sharp tang, is a mesmerizing thing, all on its own, and more than a conduit for the traditional and original songs she delivers here.
Consider, for instance, her opening salvo, a ghostly tracery of the Clancy Brothers’ classic, “I Know Who Is Sick.” But while the Irish traditionalists take this melody at a skiffle-y trot, Power elongates it and elaborates on its slippery curves, seeking out the hurt and uncertainty in every syllable. Her interstitial “ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah” crooning could hardly be different from the original’s trad Irish “touralourah,” substituting water pure melancholy for giddy cliché.
Another cover makes more sense on the surface, since Tim Buckley, like Power, takes the tune as a suggestion rather than an order, embellishing folk styles with jazzy slides and bent notes. But even so, Mae’s take on “I Must Have Been Blind” is a revelation, her voice as transparent as glass but full of freedom, as it crests a pensive arrangement of piano and cello.
The originals are good, too, especially pellucid “Counting Down,” which rattles and rambles in loose country folk style, drums pounding, piano chiming and that extraordinary voice narrating ordinary events—taking her son to swimming lessons, coming home, playing music. “The Waterford Song” tilts its jangling guitar sideways with eerie trills of organ, and again, Power’s unearthly voice keening and swelling. The song is about Power’s ancestral connections to Ireland, and it blends the real and the spiritual in a mist-shrouded mystery.
Power ends her album with another song linked to her homeland, the rebel ballad “Down by the Glenside” written during the uprising and studded with archaic language. The cut has an archival quality—and how could it not—with the sound fading in and out like a cracked 78 and Power singing simply, sadly and with a pronounced Irish lilt. Yet even here, she sounds freer and more self-determined than the material itself. Her voice wanders delicately where it will, putting the spirit in an old song so that it flutters to life.
Jennifer Kelly
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Well, I just spent a few hours on this. Thanks, ADHD Hyperfixations. Anyways, here’s the general ages I came up with for the Three Frats AU relative to the 3H cast’s ages in the academy phase. Some are canon, others are modified canon, and others are straight up vibe guesses. I didn’t include any of the shapeshifters on here since they’re up in the air.
31+ - Vaida, Renault, Saber, Valbar, Gregor, Basilio, Flavia, Volke, Reina, Yukimura, Shura, Gilliam, basically anyone old enough to have their own kids or just obviously older than 30 something
30 - Arvis, Uther, Oswin, Hawkeye, Deen, Miriel, Libra, Shinon, Azama, Arthur (Fates)
29 - Aida, Pent, Louise, Dorcas, Isadora, Harken, Karla, Zeke, Stefan, Izana, Emmeryn, Gerik, Tethys
28 - Claud, Bartre, Natalie, Mathilda, Kamui, Fredrick, Virion, Sigrun, Gatrie, Xander, Saizo
27 - Beowulf, Lucius, Canas, Farina, Legault, Clive, Robin, Say'ri, Bastian, Heather, Tanith, Ryoma, Kagero, Scarlet, Glen (FE8)
26 - Balthus, Arden, Hector, Rath, Leila, Geitz, Karel, Lloyd, Linus, Sully, Cordelia, Kellam, Lon'qu, Calil, Rhys, Camilla, Orochi, Setsuna, Niles, Nyx, Benny
25 - Sigurd, Eldigan, Quan, Naoise, Ayra, Lewyn, Chulainn, Eliwood, Kent, Raven, Matthew, Dart, Fiora, Python, Forsyth, Sonia, Chrom, Vaike, Stahl, Cherche, Zihark, Lucia, Hinoka, Beruka, Peri, Joshua, Saleh, Cormag
24 - Edain, Brigid, Alec, Jamke, Lex, Sain, Lowen, Lukas, Leon, Jesse, Sumia, Gaius, Tharja, Geoffrey, Oscar, Jakob, Effie, Charlotte, Seth
23 - Deirdre, Tailitu, Azelle, Midir, Erinys, Wil, Heath, Ursula, Palla, Maribelle, Olivia, Henry, Kieran, Makalov, Kaze, Azura, Natasha, Glenn (3H), Rennac
22 - Mercedes, Lachesis, Lyn, Florina, Luthier, Lissa, Aran, Nephenee, Felicia, Flora, Rinkah, Silas, Syrene
21 - Jeritza, Byleth, Sylvia, Serra, Erk, Priscilla, Tatiana, Conrad, Ricken, Elincia, Marcia, Astrid, Boyd, Leo, Takumi, Oboro, Hinata, Artur, L'Arachel
20 - Hubert, Hapi, Catria, Atlas, Ike, Fiona, Jill, Mia, Lute, Innes, Knoll
19 - Sylvain, Yuri, Leonie, Finn, Dew, Guy, Rebecca, Silque, Berkut, Rinea, Fernand, Donnel, Pelleas, Ilyana, Tormod, Hana, Subaki, Mozu, Erika, Ephraim, Colm, Niemi, Forde, Kyle, Lyon
18 - Dorothea, Dedue, Raphael, Lorenz, Hilda, Constance, Monica, Jaffar, Gray, Faye, Clair, Mist, Soren, Hayato, Vanessa, Tana
17 - Edie, Dimi, Claude, Bernie, Ferdie, Felix, Ingrid, Marianne, Ignatz, Alm, Tobin, Celica, Mae, Sothe, Laura, Sakura, Elise
16 - Caspar, Linhardt, Ashe, Annette, Nino, Est, Boey, Genny, Leonardo, Meg, Ross
15 - Lysithea, Petra, Kliff, Edward, Franz
14 - Cyril, Oifey, Amelia, Ewan
13 - Delthea, Sanaki, Shannan
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You entering a trace and emerging with an age list of (I presume) every FE that you’ve ever played. It happens. I get it. (I do have to point out that Saizo and Kaze are twins, so maybe we split the difference on their estimates? 25? 26?)
Mostly however I am going to be thinking about the 13-year-olds tier. There is such powerful energy there. I don’t know what’s going to happen if you put the three of them in the same room, but I know it will be happening, and there is no force on all the continents that could stop them if they put their mind to something.
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