“Mourning Doves of Joshua Tree” is an intriguing and interesting title for an album, but this is indeed a fascinating and interesting album. Shaped by the loss of her grandmother and the resolve she discovered in the solitude of the desert she now calls home, the album is a musing on love and loss, grief and healing. For Tara Beier, these titual doves are more than just symbols of peace; they are reminders of presence, an expression of what remains after the departure of those closest to us. “In some belief systems, these birds are angels and departed souls reminding us we’re never alone,” she explains, a thought that threads through the record and gives each song its quiet weight.
“Desert Soul” opens the album, setting the scene both sonically and lyrically, with an instantly infectious song that is threaded through with words of wisdom, comfort, optimism, and awakening. “Rainbow” is a deft and delicate indie track, but one that runs on an understated yet vibrant and vivacious pulse “Lost in Death Valley” adds wit to the wisdom of the album to make a country-infused groover, and “Shooting Star” shimmers and shines like the spacerock it describes.
The record weaves together strands of alternative folk, americana, indie, and even a clever touch of pop immediacy. It comes as no surprise to find that Beier has a background in filmmaking, as each track sets a scene, plays out a scenario, and the album itself feels like the soundtrack to a movie as much as a collection of songs in the traditional sense.
Film producers are great at adapting books for the big screen, perhaps someone should shake up the industry by adapting albums like this for the cinema. After all, the title already sounds like the most introspective film of the year and such outside-the-box thinking would be most welcome in those quarters where you find people who want more than just another superhero franchise or who don’t feel the need to watch Fast and Furious 27. People like me, and I know I am not alone in this. Someone call Terence Malick right now!
