Murmuration Nation


Murmuration Nation is the first solo album by American folk musician and Indigo Girls member Emily Saliers.

Recording and release

Saliers had considered a solo album on and off for two decades prior to this release, while her Indigo Girls bandmate Amy Ray released a string of six solo albums in the 21st century. She set up a successful PledgeMusic campaign to fund the recording. Saliers used this album as an outlet for expressing her interest in groove and rhythm and blues, as well as an interest in hip hop music and beats that would not fit in her typical folk performances. She began composing the songs by sharing short music clips with violinist Lyris Hung, who ended up producing Murmuration Nation. The singer-songwriter toured with a group of musicians that included her Hung and she also performed these solo songs in a set before Indigo Girls' performances in 2018.

Reception

Editors at AllMusic Guide scored this album four out of five stars, with critic James Christopher Monger calling it "a bold, versatile, and often beautiful collection of globally inspired pop songs that infuse the folk-rock/Americana stylings of her flagship group with elements of R&B, hard rock, and worldbeat". In an overview of the worst album covers of the year, Exclaim! included this release at 17 for implying classic metalcore music would be on the album.

Track listing

All songs written by Emily Saliers, except where noted
  1. "Spider" – 4:46
  2. "Fly" – 4:06
  3. "Match" – 3:35
  4. "OK Corral" – 4:07
  5. "Serpent Love" – 4:45
  6. "Long Haul" – 4:07
  7. "Sad One" – 4:08
  8. "Slow Down Day Friend" – 4:10
  9. "I'm High I'm on High" – 5:31
  10. "Poethearted" – 3:46
  11. "Hello Vietnam" – 3:43
  12. "Train Inside" – 4:52
Digital and vinyl editions bonus tracks
  2. "331" – 4:26
  3. "Second Coming" – 3:36
  4. "J'aurais Voulu" – 3:53

    Personnel

Murmuration Nation entered two Billboard charts in the week of September 2, 2017, at 29 on the Top Album Sales and six on Americana/Folk Albums.