When Elliott Smith died in 2003, some listeners wondered whether his brand of Nick Drake-influenced folk rock might die with it. Not to worry — Meredith Bragg earns comparisons to Smith with Silver Sonya, Bragg’s newest album.

Silver Sonya is also reminiscent of Return of the Frog Queen, Jeremy Enigk’s 1996 solo project (recorded while Sunny Day Real Estate was on hiatus), in its orchestral grandeur and surreal ambience. Bragg has a way with dissonant accents and psychedelic flourishes that puts him in the same campground as Andrew Douglas Rothbard or Animal Collective, marrying crisp pop melodies with studio-happy psychedelic folk.

Indeed, Bragg seems to have a greater rapport with the studio itself than Smith ever did. Credited solely with vocals and acoustic guitar, Bragg — with producers T.J. Lipple and Chad Clark — has sculpted such base elements into something otherworldly.

But where comparisons to Smith become unavoidable is in the general feel of Silver Sonya: melancholy, existential, implosive, like punk’s howl spent and dried to a raspy croon. It’s a devastating experience, too quiet for catharsis and too vulnerable to offer any sense of escape.

But, as with Smith’s best work, a sense of mirth, a palpable black humor, rings out amidst the suffocating introspection. Nothing deflates absurdity, after all, faster than embracing it and having a chuckle.

- Lyam White

Meredith Bragg: www.meredithbragg.com
Kora Records: www.thekorarecords.com