Artist Heidi Spencer And The Rare Birds

It’s said that no good movie—regardless of downbeat subject matter—is depressing, but all bad movies are depressing. The same, of course, could be said for music. Milwaukee’s Heidi Spencer may trade in musical tales of loss, but her music is anything but dispiriting. On 2011’s Under Streetlight Glow—Spencer’s third album and first for label Bella Union—the singer and her Rare Birds instead make a strong case for the simple, unexpected, and life-affirming power of a sad song. Flush with moody, dimly lit sketches of love and lovers lost, the album seems less concerned with the darkness, and more with the catharsis that comes just before the dawn.

Updated 03/21/2012