Mockery

Singer/multi-instrumentalist Elizabeth Steen finds her voice on her debut album, Mockery. Having spent the last decade working with Tanya Donelly and Natalie Merchant left her inspired to form Fritter, and Mockery is the product of those working years. This 11-song set is honest and simple, like Donelly's body of work, while also wildly imaginative. Mockery comes off as sweet with its organic qualities; however, Fritter is cynical about what socially surrounds the world. "Honest Crook" accepts defeat while the lite synths of "Milktoast" frolic with isolation. The charm of Mockery is mostly because of Fritter's penchant for making up words and conflicting definitions. Like Laura Nyro did, Steen dances with the images in her head for an enchanting fantasy. If she's not shifting between two worlds in "Lovelock," Fritter catches Dumbo in "Across the Span." Mockery isn't a confusing place; if anything, Fritter welcomes you into a land that's beyond anything you see in your dreams. There's a Renaissance gleaming throughout wispy acoustic guitars and Steen's delicate voice. Oddly enough, you believe that it's real.