Finish Lines

ONE OF THE STANZAS of “Crooked Foot Lane,” the opening track of Amy Engelhardt’s new album “Finish What,” runs

Downloaded directions / How to escape / Wrapped all of his fractures / In surgical tape

and is part of a compact paean to aspects of disability and acceptance. But the phrase “surgical tape” has a special resonance here. Engelhardt’s lyrics carry the incisiveness of a surgical operation, and I’m mired in enough of the past to decide that the tape in question could also be a strip of magnetic recording tape, once the usual vehicle for an audio recording.

In which case this entire collection of eight songs and an instrumental could be filed under “surgical tape.” The lyrics pierce more skillfully through the epidermis of our emotional lives than I’m accustomed to encountering, even as they dance to catchy tunes presented in inventive arrangements – and there’s a story behind that that we’ll get to shortly.

Engelhardt harbors an impressive nexus of talent, developed as she went from musical-theater kid to in-demand singer to songwriter to playwright/performer. A recent manifestation of the last-named is her solo show “Impact,” which I saw at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and wrote about here.

In and around a host of in-the-works projects, she has put together this new collection of seven originals and a cover, with most of the tracks recorded and mixed in Iceland. That’s because in February 2023, Engelhardt had a month-long writing residency at the Creative Center of Iceland, which is located in the Eastfjords – which, as an Iceland tourist agency points out, are the Iceland you see in the movies. It turned out that Vinny Wood, one of the people who run the residency, also has a recording studio in the same building. And there’s a “Record in Iceland” incentive, through which the country’s Ministry of Industry makes it easy for artists who wish to produce recordings there.

A friend in Reykjavik recommended a band. As Amy explains, “I sent them charts/demos and they sent me tracks remotely. They were super great. I forwarded them to Vinny and then came back for a week to record all of the vocals and keyboards. It worked out great because my husband was doing a residency there to write a book!” The finished product was released this year on January 25.

The songs typically examine love and relationships, but there’s a provocative combination of abstraction and precision here. Which sounds unattainable – until you listen to these recordings. “Gorham Hill,” with a slow, contemplative tempo, looks at a relationship that didn’t work, but as seen from the perspective that is now working. “We have all moved on to brighter days,” is the conclusion. “Weak Day” (great title), on the other hand, is an up-tempo number that opens with a succession of complaints all supporting the conclusion “I'm having a weak day.” The result? “Still hurt, down in the dirt / And I'd still be better with you.” You’ll be infected by its catchy nature, possibly enough so to sing your own version against the instrumental backing track that finishes the album.

“You Woke the Witch” is a ballad, which in Engelhardt-land is a warning. Like the Child Ballads of nearly two centuries ago, it’s a kind of training anthem, but being an Amy Ballad, the message here is to lay the hell off the person you’re mistreating.

You treated her like dirt / You grabbed her by the skirt / She didn’t plan to hurt you, but / You woke the witch

And much of it is effectively sung against the mournful cello of Diane Chaplin.

There’s more of her cello in the slow intro to “Thomas,” the lyrics of which invite us through a poetically ambiguous story about some competition for the love of one Charlotte. (“Are you Thomas,” asks a line, “or are you the ghost of Thomas?”) And it’s shrewdly paired with an old classic, “Your Love,” the only non-original song here, which is in fact the 1985 hit by The Outfield, from their debut album “Play Deep.” This one, you may remember, is a somewhat creepy song that declares a stalker’s intent, until he’s driven to defeated resignation. Engelhardt takes it from the power-pop feel of the original to more of a classic show-tune place, and is just as effective.

“You Don’t Suck” is the muted praise for an Uncle Vinko, who (as a little internet digging reveals) turns out to be Vinko Bogataj, a Yugoslav entrant who messed up a skiing competition in West Germany in 1970 and was immortalized in a Wide World of Sports video clip. “Look on the bright side,” he’s assured. “You competed.,” even as we glimpse the anti-climactic remainder of his life. And then “The Last Thing He Said” leaves us on a melancholy note, as both parties to this relationship – in this case, father and child, have put up barriers of silence. “Can’t spot the villain here / They got what they got.”

It’s the curse of the musical-theater kid that every word of every lyric is going to be sung in tune and articulated well. Unlike the more recent crop of such singers, however, Amy has character to her voice, and gives just the right tone and inflection to color the lyrics according to the intent (however veiled) of the song. The musicians here are first-rate. “Crooked Foot Lane” and “Weak Day” feature Adam Gust, drums; Steve Deutsch, bass; and Troy Dexter, guitar, with Amy on keyboards for the first number. On the remainder of the tracks are Julian Leon, violin; Diane Chaplin, cello; Jóhann Ásmundsson, bass; Brynhildur Oddsdóttir, guitars; Ásmundur Jóhannsson, drums & percussion; and, of course, Amy on keyboards. Look for “Finish What” on Bandcamp here.