With Haunted Painting, Sadie Dupuis may have outgrown the confines of what her solo project Sad13 was originally designed to do -- and that's a good thing. Dupuis made most of her debut album Slugger's subversions of mainstream pop in her bedroom and they (proudly) sounded like it. This time, she tops her homemade recordings with additional tracking at studios such as Elliott Smith's former haunt, New Monkey, and with instrumentation that ranges from trash to an eight-piece orchestra. Dupuis announces Haunted Painting's ambitions from the start with "Into the Catacombs," a fittingly spooky, string-laden introduction that signals just how deep she's going to dig. The album's wider-ranging sound mirrors its broader scope, which spans and blends the political and the personal effortlessly. Dupuis is flip and serious at the same time on "WTD?" as she takes aim at cavalier billionaires who treat the world as disposable over remnants of Slugger's pop pastiche. Backed by brittle electro-pop that wields distortion like armor, she tears into comedians who think "PC culture" destroys comedy on "Hysterical." However, no one escapes Dupuis' scrutiny. On "Oops … !" -- which sounds like Liz Phair jamming with Helium -- she questions her own need for vengeance, describing herself as a "young hussy crossed with cuddle core/10,000% out for blood." Though her difficulty processing grief led to a bad case of writer's block, Haunted Painting's songwriting is some of her most personal and eloquent. The self-consciousness of her work has grown into self-awareness, whether it's "Ghost (Of a Good Time)"'s breezy kiss-off to late nights out, or "Ruby Wand," which moves from introspective synth pop to grungy catharsis. Mourning is a potent muse for her on "Good Grief," a wry, fond remembrance set to a carousel melody, and "The Crow," which conveys the overwhelming helplessness that follows loss in its self-destructing noise. It feels like the emotional openness of "Take Care"'s blossoming chamber pop wouldn't have been possible without the turmoil that came before it, and while the busy sonics and intricate wordplay of Haunted Painting mean there's a lot going on, Dupuis juggles it all with flair and heart. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

1		Into the Catacombs
2		WTD?
3		Hysterical
4		Ghost (Of a Good Time)
5		Oops...!
6		Good Grief
7		Ruby Wand
8		With Baby
9		The Crow
10		Take Care
11		Market Hotel

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