Pitchfork

Greetings from Michigan. Or Ontario. Or Ohio, or Pennsylvania, or New York. The Great Lake once so polluted that one of its tributaries actually caught on fire back in the 1960s is the setting for the lead track from singer, composer, and former Dirty Projectors bassist Nat Baldwin's forthcoming solo album, MVP. Baldwin's "Lake Erie" has its old flames, for sure, but also pristine, expansive vistas, put there with help from producer and Grizzly Bear member Chris Taylor. The clear, melismatic vocals sound as strange yet familiar as a dimly remembered childhood watering hole after listening to the Dirty Projectors' Dave Longstreth, or Baldwin's previous outing, Lights Out. Baldwin's singing is backed by clean guitars that add light, airy melodies of their own rather than simply keeping time or filling out chords. Trumpet and Baldwin's churning double bass, along with the geographically titled subject matter, bear similarities as well to the orchestral indie-Americana of Sufjan Stevens or Andrew Bird. "You left me on that lake," Baldwin sings, out of wistfulness more than accusation. Sounds pretty lonely, yeah, but surely the Environmental Protection Agency will come save him.