Damien Jurado – Maraqopa (Secretly Canadian)
4/5
By: Hayley Sleigh
As Damien Jurado sings on 'Working Titles', “in the end you're a fool like the journalist/who turns what she's seen into business”. It turns out that there is no greater fool than the part-time music journalist who sifts through dozens of Google pages only to find out that Maraqopa is in fact Spanish for 'album title designed to make foolish part-time music journalist sift through dozens of Google pages'. Interestingly enough, Maraqopa is also Ancient Catalan for 'album with a title that is very hard to pronounce, and thus difficult to to talk about to people you've only just met at dinner parties'. Fun fact: it can also be spelt as Marapoqa, repeatedly, if you're not a fan of proofreading and no-one notices.
But while the name of Jurado's latest album may not be the most accessible, the record itself is a much more inviting place to be. Jurado guides us carefully through this vast, wild landscape, which stretches from the disorientating screams and sirens of 'Nothing is the News' through to the steadily dizzying howls of 'Reel to Reel', binding them together with his earthy tones. His broken-down vocal adds grit to the record's softer moments, like the haunting 'Life Away from the Garden', with its children's choir gently echoing Jurado before slowly losing themselves amid swirling percussion.
It's a richer, more heavily layered sound than Jurado's previous collaboration with Richard Swift, Saint Bartlett (2010). Swift's consistently distanced production throughout Maraqopa leaves Jurado most exposed during his more vulnerable moments, as with the weary pleading of 'So On Nevada', and stops the dream-like title track from floating away. As Jurado sings on that particular tune, “all are welcome in”. All are certainly welcome, and all will likely find something to appreciate in the land of Maraqopa. Some of us might just be a little hesitant to give the album's name when discussing it with people we've only just met at dinner parties.
"Nothing is the News" by Damien Jurado by DOJAGSC
Artists in this article: Damien Jurado
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