The Indigo Girls are not quite the female Simon and Garfunkel, but they can't be blamed for trying. Like the guys, the Girls - Amy Ray and Emily Saliers - also played a memorable concert in New York City's Central Park. Whereas Paul and Art's 1981 concert was broadcast on HBO and later released on vinyl, the Girls had the Great Blackout of 2003 with which to contend. The infamous Aug. 14 power outage stopped their show. But it did not stop their music.
Nearly a half-year later to the day, the Indigo Girls are picking up where that concert left off - and they've brought some new tunes to make up for it.
It's funny that the Girls have called their new release "All That We Let In," since if there's anything Ray and Saliers are known for - musically and lyrically - it's inclusion.
On their 2002 release, "Become You," they strayed toward the outskirts of their typical pop/folk acoustic hues. The occasional pseudo- Latin and ska rhythms are back on "All That We Let In," but given the album's title, they make much more sense.
The opening track, "Fill It Up Again," is about as summer-road-trip as folk gets. It's in the same vein as the duo's own "Get Out the Map" and "Shame on You," but decidedly more modern and less rockabilly.
Beautiful organ and acoustic guitar chords flow through the title track. It's Joni Mitchell meets Joan Baez, with some Carole King-style piano tossed in for reinforcement. The track's chords and countermelodies are so agreeable in progression that they can be picked up - and sung along to - on the first listen by even the least studious of music fans.
That generality is a quality that's consistent throughout the majority of their new tracks, like the haunting "Cordova" and campfire-y "Free in You." But it can also work against them.
Saliers and Ray have never been noted for their majestic voices. If anything, they have the pipes of "normal people," in that they sing the notes they have to, when they have to - enough to do the job. Harmonies don't normally wander from their fitting distance, an element that can grate on the eardrums after a few tracks.
But with so many folk/rock/country artists making music today, few have the longevity to back up their musical detours. The duo's risky departure in 2002 to a less radio-friendly domain may have been the start of a new career for the group.
Like Simon and Garfunkel, the Indigo Girls' lyrics don't shy away from being overtly emotional and sincere. With this, they're extending a trusting hand to their listeners that says nothing if not, "Let me in."
