Released in August, My Brightest Diamond's debut album has slowly and steadily generated a fall-semester buzz on college radio, including Madison's own WSUM. The band is fronted by Shara Worden, who contributed vocals to the popular 2005 indie album Illinois by Sufjan Stevens. Worden has a B.A. in vocal performance from the University of North Texas, and Bring Me the Workhorse rises and falls with the band's ability to keep pace with her soaring delivery.
The music is moody chamber rock - somber violins interrupted by the crash of electric guitar chords. On up-tempo tracks like "Golden Star," the instrumentation parallels the explosive emotion of Worden's singing. When the tempo slows down (as on "Disappear"), the songs don't evoke the same kind of haunting beauty.
They may have room to grow, but Bring Me the Workhorse finds My Brightest Diamond shining like indie rock's star of the future.