MERCHANT'S DEEP, DARK, TRUTHFUL MIRROR

By: ANTHONY VIOLANTI

Rating:**** 1/2.

Natalie Merchant reaffirms her musical independence with a new album of somber reflection and brooding intensity.

"Ophelia," released today, is an inspirational work by a literate songwriter and singer in full artistic bloom.

The former lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs has reached a creative and emotional peak on this CD, and it's a powerful experience.

This is Merchant's second solo effort, a follow-up to 1995's "Tigerlily," which sold more than 3 million copies. "Tigerlily" was, for the most part, an album of alternative and pop sounds that appealed to the masses, much like the 10,000 Maniacs. This time, with the exception of one number, Merchant is in a far darker and more serious mood.

"Ophelia," the title track, seems to be a fantasy of idealized and traumatized womanhood. It's a slow-moving number, filled with the images and roles that women play, from mistresses to feminists to entertainers to members of religious orders. Merchant delves into the tragic and comic consequences of life's choices and how we all straddle the line of insanity, trying to play our parts.

Another number, "Life Is Sweet," is a brutal and forthright look at surviving day to day and the price to pay.

"I tell you life is sweet/In spite of the misery," she sings. Later, Merchant muses, "They say that life is long/Be thankful when it's done/Don't ask for more, be grateful/But I tell you life is short/Be thankful because before you know/It will be over."

Merchant displays her lyrical skills on "Frozen Charlotte," a number that seems to float like a warm breeze near the water's edge: "Still as the river grows in December/Silent and perfect blinding ice/Spring keeps her promises/No cold can keep her back/I want you to remember me that way."

Overall, the music, like the vocals, is sparse and eloquent. Merchant's vocals are highlighted by a soft piano and guitar. The one exception is "Kind and Generous," an upbeat number that also happens to be the first single. It doesn't match the emotional power of the rest of the album and is really the only weak track.

But don't let that song fool you. This album is Merchant finding her own voice and exploring the depths of her emotions.

Still, she does offer a disclaimer on her songwriting.

"Many people will read the first-person pronouns in the lyrics of 'Ophelia' and assume that these songs are autobiographical," Merchant said in a press statement for the CD. "Not true. I am a storyteller, and I simply use the first-person voice because I find it the most intimate."

It's hard to listen to a song such as "My Skin," with Merchant's wounded voice and wrenching lyrics, and not identify it somehow with the singer's life experience. "Contempt loves the silence/It thrives in the dark," Merchant sings.

Among the guests who help her on the CD are N'Dea Davenport, formerly of the Brand New Heavies; Tibetan singer Yunchen Llamo; guitarist Daniel Lonois, and English composer Gavin Bryars.

But it's Merchant who dominates, and her desperate and longing vocal on "The Living" is simply astonishing. She closes the CD with a gentle, spiritual number called "When They Ring Them Golden Bells."

In addition to the CD, Merchant has released a mock-documentary video for "Ophelia." Viewing the video makes the album easier to comprehend, but there is still mystery that is part of her work and makes it that much more absorbing.

Copyright (c) 1998, The Buffalo News