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Artist: My Brightest Diamond Track: Hymne Á L'Amour Recorded Live at Paste 12/07/08

Description: After initially gaining attention for her collaboration with Sufjan Stevens, Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond has cemented a place for herself in the indie music scene with her latest release A Thousand Shark's Teeth. The album clearly impressed Paste critic Reid Davis who wrote: That My Brightest Diamond bears the influence of smart, classically informed pop provocateurs like Björk, PJ Harvey, Kate Bush and the late Jeff Buckley doesn’t make Worden’s project noteworthy; plenty of lesser artists mine similar terrain. What makes My Brightest Diamond distinctive is that the music stands as a worthy addition to this roll call of heroes—there’s never the impression of an inferior, second-generation copy. And putting aside claims of influence, since when has anyone conjured anything actually sounding like Grace-era Buckley? My Brightest Diamond comes very close.

Worden's beautiful instrumental arrangements in her most recent album certainly caught my ear, proving both entrancing and challenging for the listener. But during her performance at Paste, Worden decided to give the band a break of sorts. For her song "Hymne Á L’Amour" most of the musicians acted as puppeteers. The performance was memorable not only for the all-too-rare musical puppet performance, but as a great showcase of her voice.

• My Brightest Diamond - The Official Site

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