Becca Stevens never makes two identical albums. This time, the North Carolina native presents us with a pure folk creation, with voice and acoustic guitar, without any doubled track. Becca bares all, behind her only instrument, as the cover indicates.
This exercise hits the mark. It touches the soul, the heart and the brain. Becca Stevens’ voice is complex and transmits multiple emotions. Without being a great virtuoso, Becca has a fluid guitar playing and has excellent “finger picking”.
As for the universe, we can think of Joni Mitchell from Blue, Nick Drake and the British folk singer Laura Marling. Vocally, we could also think of Sinead O’Connor. But it is first and foremost Becca Stevens, who once again manages to reinvent herself.
Becca Stevens remains relatively unknown in our territories, despite a very full track record: seven solo albums and multiple collaborations, the best known being within the folk quartet of the legendary David Crosby (ex Crosby, Stills & Nash), between 2016 and 2021, called the Lightouse Orchestra.
It was within this group, which also includes the founder of Snarky Puppy, Michael League, that I discovered Becca Stevens. I dug into her discography and discovered a folk composer who was attracted to complexity; on her 2011 album Weighless, you would swear she was a fan of the British prog group Gentle Giant.
Becca Stevens also made a magnificent album with the oriental music trio The Secret Trio, a jazz album with pianist Elan Mehler. She also ventured into alternative pop with the albums Regina (2017) and Wonderbloom (2020), with more mixed, but still interesting, results.
Becca Stevens is constantly experimenting. She also made a record with the string quartet Attaca, which her partner, Nathan Schram, directs.
Now forty years old, she attempts with Maple to Paper an intimate reflection on life and death, at the time when she became a mother while losing her mother. The first piece, Now Feels Bigger Than The Past, is dedicated to David Crosby, who recently passed away. The title song evokes the fate of a tree, which turns into paper, to arrive at a meditation on human destiny.
This opus constantly alternates between sadness and happiness. At the time of writing, I have not yet grasped the full depth of the lyrics. Because Becca also has a certain talent for writing.
With Michael League and Sufjan Stevens (no relation), Becca Stevens embodies the best of current American popular music.
