Gaelynn Lea has released a new single, "Perfect." The ethereal violinist and emotionally raw songwriter, who not only won NPR's Tiny Desk Contest but also earned a rapturous Tiny Desk performance, channels Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth for this chiller of a song, which is intimate and theatrical all at once.
Perfect" is the centerpiece of "Music from Macbeth," a seven-track concept album full of Lea's distinct, original compositions for the 2022 Broadway production of Macbeth, starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga. The whole album will be released by May 9, and if this track is any indication, it will be a journey into the psychological backwaters of Shakespeare's most haunted characters.
The track is filled with haunting string arrangements and is performed with a fragile, gloomy vocal that feels suspended between beauty and madness. With its cinematic lens, there's something almost cinematic in how Lea paints the atmosphere. At one moment, you are breathless from the uncloseted woman, and at the next, the scene cuts to you with blood turning to ice in the arteries. It's a small wonder she calls this song visceral, raw, and original.
What makes "Perfect" so irresistible is the multitude of personalities we barely manage as we pursue something in the face of all opposition. It's a quiet reckoning, filled with lush textures and dark elegance. Whether or not you know the play, the emotional burden lands with the force of tonnage.
By the time she embarks on a 10-city UK tour that starts May 11, with participatory concerts at each venue, Lea is reasserting herself as a composer and a narrator of rare skill. She's worked with legends, including Michael Stipe and Wilco, in the past, and those credits lend her some credibility, but "Perfect" makes it clear her voice is unique and deeply necessary in the music world today. With "Music from Macbeth," Gaelynn Lea gives us music and a window into people's complexity. "Perfect" is the dark, shimmering key.
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Reviewed by LyricalOdyssey Music
on
May 06, 2025
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