(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
The Indigo Girls, i.e. the female duo of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, sang parables of perdition and redemption in an intensely metaphorical language.
Both their vocal harmonies and the themes of their songs had something religious about them. The two were nonetheless distinct singer-songwriters, each responsible for her own material, even if they almost always performed it together.
They emerged in the folk circles of Atlanta in 1986 (barely in their twenties) with a self-produced EP that included Lifeblood, and the following year with the album Strange Fire (Indigo), featuring Land Of Canaan (Rays first masterpiece), the title track, Crazy Game, and Make It Easier. That album is a small poem of vulnerability, which touched more than one post-feminist female heart.
Having entered the good graces of R.E.M., they became known to the rock audience with the self-titled album of 1989 (for Epic), which included another pop number by Saliers, Closer To Fine (as well as History of Us), another lively and vibrant masterpiece by Ray, Tried To Be True, and the epic and aching Kid Fears (again Ray in excelsis). Ray, who in Land Of Canaan confesses her amorous longings like a little country star and in Center Stage roars her despair almost in absolute silence, confirms herself as the standout personality.
The follow-up NomadsIndiansSaints (Epic, 1990) changed nothing, once again casting Saliers as the tender dreamer (Hammer And Nail) and Ray as the rocker (Pushing The Needle Too Far and 1,2,3). The only novelty is the world-music flavor of Hand Me Downs.
Then they too, with the waning of the folk vogue, decided to introduce more complex arrangements, and thus Rites Of Passage (Epic, 1992) was born, whose Three Hits (by Ray) sounds as if it came from a Neil Young record, while Salierss fairy-tale compositions (Galileo, Virginia Woolf, and above all Airplane) benefit most from the new direction. It is therefore no surprise to find the country & western homage of Nashville.
Swamp Ophelia (Epic, 1994) completes the transition (Touch Me Fall is their first electric-guitar-led song) and finally consecrates them in the sales charts. It is a mature, conceptual, sophisticated record. Jerry Marotta on drums and Lisa Germano on violin contribute to the success of the operation.
1200 Curfews (Epic, 1995) is a live album that provides a compendium of their career. The single Power of Two also becomes a hit.
Ray has composed the major songs of their repertoire, and her singing style has grown harsher over the years, eventually brushing against the memory of Chrissie Hynde and Patti Smith.
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
Shaming Of The Sun (Epic, 1997) is their "rock" album and certainly their
most commercial to date.
The line-up keeps bassist Sara Lee, drummer Jerry Marotta and
violinist Lisa Germano, three key players.
The loud, electric sound is a mixed blessing.
Ray sounds like Bruce Springsteen in Shame on You, roars in
Don't Give that Girl a Gun and Cut it Out,
borrows the horn section from a marching band for Hey Kind Friend,
and even experiments with hip hop in Shed You Skin.
Saliers' banjo-driven dirge Get Out the Map,
piano-driven fairy tale Leeds
and melancholy pop-soul ballad Everything In Its Own Time
(that borders on Everything But The Girl)
have a more intimate appeal.
Another commercial success was
Come On Now Social (Epic, 1999), enhanced with guest appareances by
Luscious Jackson's Kate Schellenbach, Me'Shell Ndegeocello,
Sheryl Crow and the Band's Garth Hudson and Rick Danko.
The girls increase the dose of rock and roll on the
anthemic Go, Trouble and Compromise, and again broaden
their palette to incorporate the dance-pop of Peace Tonight,
the soulful Peace Tonight and We Are Together,
the haunted ballad Sister, while
Gone Again, Faye Tucker and Ozilline hark back to the
country-pop of their beginnings.
It does not come as a surprise that Amy Ray, Indigo Girls' main composer,
launched her solo career with Stag (Daemon, 2001). It comes as a surprise
that she has changed into a formidable rocker in the tradition of Joan Jett
(who guests here).
Lucystoners and Laramie are the manifestos of the new course.
The acoustic Johnny Rottentail recalls an angry Bruce Springsteen.
Measure Of Me is a Lou Reed-ian decadent elegy.
Continuing their descent into mainstream pop,
Become You (Epic, 2002) features eclectic arrangements and tempos,
catchy refrains and slick production,
and All That We Let In (Epic, 2004) rehashes their philosophy with the
quiet anthem Perfect World that sounds like a marketing motto, while
Saliers' Fill It Up Again and Ray's vibrant Tether and Heartache for Everyone try to keep the audience awake.
Amy Ray's second solo, Prom (Daemon, 2005), is a surprisingly sprightly
work that boasts virulent refrains and riffs such as
Put It Out For Good. The Indigo Girls (or at least half of them) have
finally made the transition from Joan Baez
to Tom Petty.
The poppy Despite Our Differences (Hollywood, 2006) marked a return to
form, although in a slightly different (more lightweight) vein, thanks to
Pendulum Swinger and
Rock and Roll Heaven's Gate, while
Emily Saliers' I Believe In Love and
Amy Ray's Dirt and Dead Ends maintained their trademark domestic tone.
Poseidon And The Bitter Bug (Vanguard, 2009), available both as a
full-band album and as an acoustic stripped-down set, was a dignified return
to their roots
(Love of Our Lives,
Digging for Your Dream,
Fleet of Hope).
Later albums include: Beauty Queen Sister (2011),
One Lost Day (2015) and
Look Long (2020).
Ray released the solo albums
Didn't It Feel Kinder (2008),
Lung of Love (2012),
Goodnight Tender (2014),
Holler (2018),
If It All Goes South (2022).
Saliers also released the solo album Murmuration Nation (2017).
