Free at Noon Flashback: Marissa Nadler turns World Cafe Live into the Roadhouse

Marissa Nadler | photo by Taylor Johnson for WXPN

I don’t know if Boston singer-songwriter Marissa Nadler was a fan of Twin Peaks: The Return (or the original series, for that matter) but I could 100% imagine her downbeat, distressed electric folk resonating from the stage of the roadhouse at the end of an episode.

Nadler performed at World Cafe Live today for WXPN’s Free at Noon concert series, on the heels of a Boot & Saddle gig earlier this week; her latest record, For My Crimes, was released in September on Sacred Bones Records. Her setlist pulled predominately from that record, with the exception of the spectral closer “Drive,” which came from Nadler’s 2014 album “July,” and the tender beauty of “Leave The Light On,” which came from the demos compilation Before July.  

Nadler’s songs are slow-burn lovelorn melodies built around rumbling electric guitar, cello, and stirring vocal melodies repeated by Nadler; many of the titles wind up as mantras within their respective song, like “I Can’t Listen To Gene Clark Anymore” and “Blue Vapor.” Elsewhere, we hear Nadler’s voice mystically details sleepwalking through days, exploring dead cities, and a character possessing a total recall of songs that shaped their life.

Listen to an audio archive of Nadler’s performance and check out a gallery of photos from the set down below.

Setlist
For My Crimes
I Can’t Listen To Gene Clark Anymore
Blue Vapor
Are You Really Gonna Move To The South
Said Goodbye To That Car
Leave The Light On
Interlocking
Drive