"Cunningham is a classic "musician's musician," her songs dense with time signature hops and jazzy voicings. Even the earthy acoustic song "Wake" comes with an uneasy melody, with Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold's offering dissonant harmonies that sound like a worn-out Simon & Garfunkel vinyl wavering in pitch. And there's a lot of grief and animosity simmering underneath even Ace 's quieter songs.On"
"The album's central theme is one of untangling yourself from someone else, particularly after anger and betrayal. Cunningham doesn't go into specifics, but her lyrics are loaded anyway. On "My Full Name," she sings, "Your brother only shares your family shame/But he doesn't really know you"; on "Mummy," she sings, "I'm the oldest of five/The first to be torn/In your mother's eyes/You were the firstborn"-a line with enough baggage to outfit an entirely different song."
Ace pairs intricate, jazzy arrangements and time-signature shifts with plainspoken emotional lines. Acoustic moments retain unease through dissonant harmonies and wavering melodies. The record thematically focuses on disentangling from another person after anger and betrayal. Lyrics provide specific, revealing images of family dynamics and relational wounds without full exposition. Songs like "Mummy" mix lullaby whimsy with pointed self-blame and accusation. Vocal harmonies and trembling strings punctuate climactic moments, while controlled songwriting avoids cliché and balances raw feeling with compositional restraint across the album.
Read at Pitchfork
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