Former circus performer collaborates with Oldham and Sweeney on third album. Baby Dee deserves the tag of “outsider artist” more than any musical entity in recent years. A physically imposing, transgender, classically trained harpist with a history as both a circus performer (most notably with the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus) and a music director for a prominent Catholic church in the Bronx, Baby Dee’s Drag City debut recalls Scott Walker, Plush, Randy Newman and other songwriters that seem to take strong in?uence from a time before the mid ’60s. The piano balladry of the opening title track sets the stage for a journey deeper and weirder than what most listeners are used to. Talented journeyman Matt Sweeney (Chavez, Zwan) and the omnipresent Will Oldham (Palace, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy) are appropriate choices for supporting musicians, as they harness the perfect sonic background for this collection of timeless, complex and sometimes disturbing pop songs.