Marissa Nadler: July

Marissa Nadler is nothing if not versatile. The Boston-based musician has collaborated with black metal bands and won an award for Best Americana Act, so it's no surprise that her style is difficult to classify. Much of her sixth album is acoustic guitar based, but "folk" is too simplistic a term for songs with the seductive, meditative slow-drip of 1923 or the off-beat simmer of the full-band-supplemented Was It a Dream. On Dead City Emily, intricately plucked strings beautifully meet the subtle quirk of organ, while Nadler's tender, ghostly quiver is amplified by layers of spectral harmonies on the yearning Firecracker and Anyone Else. The album is a strange concoction, particularly given Nadler's propensity for lyrics that explore both the yearning ache and the defeatist anguish of love. But it's undeniably captivating. marissanadler.com
Download: 1923, Dead City Emily