Palehound’s New Album Casts a Powerful Spell

Lead singer Ellen Kempner could pass for an anxious ghost on “A Place I’ll Always Go.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDnp-DbY3AU&feature=youtu.be

Palehound

A Place I’ll Always Go

Polyvinyl

Courtesy of Girlie Action Media

With a voice somewhere between a whisper and a sigh, Boston’s Ellen Kempner could pass for an anxious ghost on the second Palehound album. The understated songs on A Place I’ll Always Go split the difference between dramatic shoegaze rock and confessional folk, plumbing familiar subjects like crushing loss and love’s healing power, but cast their powerful spell through eloquently observed details rather than grand, clichéd pronouncements. “You will always be a week away from turning 21,” she murmurs at one point, elsewhere noting, “You’ve got the answers/To the questions/That your parents pointed to their god.” Turning from despair to renewal, Kempner quietly proclaims, “After weeks of frozen meals/I am in the produce aisle and I’m feeling all the fruits.” She’s also a subtly original guitarist who can craft the perfect texture or riff to underscore these moving expressions of grief and hope. A Place I’ll Always Go is a gently devastating gem.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate