Azure Ray Issue #44

Drawing Down the Moon (Saddle Creek)

By Kelley Hecker
Published: November 1st, 2010 | 12:00am

It's been seven years since Azure Ray released Hold on Love, but Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink haven't been taking it easy. During their hiatus, each separately relocated from Omaha to Los Angeles while touring relentlessly behind their combined seven solo LPs.

Despite this time apart, the duo pick up right where they left off on Drawing Down the Moon, with 12 melancholy lullabies that could easily fit on any of their earlier releases—and that's not a bad thing. Fans will undoubtedly be pleased to hear Fink and Taylor together again on what is arguably their best record yet. Fink's ethereal vocals have never been lovelier, and her songwriting is as dark as ever, particularly on stand-out "Larraine." She sings "Your daddy loved you wrong / While he pointed his gun / Your mother turned her face."

Taylor's breathy vocals come across more powerful and confident, as on "On and On Again," in which she intones, "I have been lied to / And I've been made a fool." Azure Ray may not be bringing anything new to the table with Drawing Down the Moon, but as the saying goes, If it ain't broke, don't fix it.