“You’ve gotta be starvin’, you’ve gotta be starvin’ for it.” Aly Spaltro, a.k.a Lady Lamb the Beekeeper advises in the song “Crane Your Neck,” and it’s so simple and true to be reminded of the things we are willing to put ourselves through when we really want something. Spaltro has been playing music for the past eight years like she’s been starving for it, and this past Tuesday she released a proper full-length culmination of all her efforts thus far, titled Ripely Pine.

This is exciting, as anyone who has seen her perform live, or even listened to a rough demo has already been a witness to the raw artistry Lady Lamb the Beekeeper possesses, but this is the debut of what refined magic sounds like. Ripely Pine gathers many of the songs any fan who’s gone to a show or two will immediately recognize, but this record give all the songs extra breath, making them more fleshed out than before. The production shows off the tunes in the most polished light yet, but without turning them into straightforward sounding indie rock songs. The studio has served the songs off Ripely Pine the best service, which is keeping the intimacy of a live show. The tracks are still stripped down when they are better off that way, and with crystal clarity so we can hear every breathe and crack in her voice, and resonating twang of her guitar. When she yells ‘I’m as blue as blood before the blood goes red” in Crane Your Neck, it’s like a declaration being shouted from a mountain. When she busts out her banjo in “Regarding Ascending the Stairs,” it’s still sitting right in front of her Indian-style out on a porch, but now there’s also a bass bobbing along and extra hand claps. In “Hair to the Ferris Wheel” she rocks out on an electric guitar solo and leaves the feedback going for exactly the perfect amount of time going back into the bridge.

The album is over an hour, too. These are not quick run-throughs of fragmented thoughts. This is a tome of an old soul, who has taken much time to look deep within themselves and really reflect on self, situations, and surroundings. These are songs that circle back to when music started at the beginning of time, to tell stories and pass the time. The order of the songs shows a poetic arc of experience, as well as showcasing Lady Lamb’s fondness of changing moods and tempos in songs, much like the oscillation involved in small revelations and discoveries through experiences. “You Are the Apple” is a good illustration of this, but the best tour de force of Aly Spaltro’s talents is “Bird Balloons,” with it’s wild careening of emotions through varying compositions. From her voice cracking shouts to calm, pure notes, among cacophonous full instrumentation with raging guitar and then sparse wailing, creaking strings, this song has everything. “Mezzanine” is the most grand, like a high-strung symphony. When she’s playing huge auditoriums and stadiums, this is the one that will have an entire orchestra behind it.

All the songs illuminate a display of wisdom through poetry that you can’t extract from any formal musical education. Aly Spaltro taught herself how to play all the instruments she knows, and has been able to find freedom in trusting her imagination, and everything that only she as an individual would be able to produce on her own. Because of this, her cadences are the kind that never quite resolved. They lift up for a moment, like that second at the top of a rollercoaster when your body floats before slamming downward, to flow right into the next phrase around the corner. The bigger picture of Ripely Pine is a life journey that has no clear resolution. There’s no polished, perfectly symmetrical package that can be wrapped up with complete closure.  There’s always something after, and Lady Lamb’s songs are the kind that leave you wondering and wanting more.  

Photo by Shervin Lainez