Whit Hill at the Ark

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I have no idea what the song is about, but the imagery is so vivid and the music so hauntingly beautiful, I don't care.

In "The Milky Way," Al punctuates the sparse lyrics with sad electric guitar. Whitley speaks of moonlight flowing into their bedroom, of marital bliss as Al sleeps next to her: "[Al mumbles from his sleep] 'The Milky Way'/And I say 'Why, baby?'/And you say 'Because/It begins/With M.'" It's freaking hilarious and paradoxically sober. This is Whit Hill at her best, showing us we can be simultaneously funny, poignant, scared, and happy. We will love people we don't expect to, have our fate determined by our eyewear, and speak to our lovers from a dead sleep. We are complex humans on an unpredictable life journey — and Whit Hill sends us postcards from along the way.

John Latini joins Whit Hill, some of the Postcards, and some of the Flying Latini Brothers to premiere songs from Hill and Latini's Christmas CD D-E-A-R S-A-N-T-A at the Tap Room Annex on Saturday, December 16.

[Review published December 2006]