Orenda Fink Issue #25

Invisible Ones (Saddle Creek)

By Krissy Teegerstrom
Published: September 1st, 2005 | 4:17pm

Orenda Fink sang many a sullen, self-obsessed love song in her band Azure Ray, but she's shed her heartbreak and turned her attention to the outside world for her first solo record, Invisible Ones. She credits travels to India, Cambodia, and Haiti, as well as a happy relationship (with Todd Baechle of The Faint) as influences. Most songs were written from the perspective of downtrodden characters, both real and imagined, to shine a light on things that are often misunderstood or maligned.

While the lyrics are less personal, the music on Invisible Ones reflects Fink's diverse background. There are swatches of rock, shades of Azure Ray's sulky folk, and haunting world-music influences from her recent travels. You'd think hearing a chorus of Haitian voices on an indie-rock record would be random, but Fink makes it work through sheer earnestness. Album-closer "Animal," with its driving tribal drumbeat and a call and response between Fink and Haitian guest singers, is a hypnotic and otherworldly gem. And even though her life has brought her to the far corners of the world, the distorted guitars of "Dirty South" show her turning back to her Georgia roots.

Fink tackles some dark subject matter on this record, and fans may miss the confessional songwriting they're used to. But when she sings, "Beautiful things can come from the dark, I once said," the words remain as true as when she first sang them in Azure Ray.

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