Maxine Funke - Pieces of Driftwood

Disciples out there doing god's work with this collection of Maxine Funke rarities and previously unheard material. Spanning 2011 to the present moment, though ordered in non-chronological order (actually ending with her first lathe cut release), it's pretty clear Funke was determinedly and unwaveringly herself from then to now - the phrasing, the tone, that voice and the presentation were there from day one, hands, head and mouth moving in unconscious synchronicity. Was it conceived into being, or did Funke start up and it just come out this way? I'm not sure what's the more romantic notion. Is there discipline in the discipline, sense in the sensibility? Maybe the trick is in hiding those lines? The three new songs suggests the course remains set and clear as ever, and while new music is always gonna be welcome from Funke, the real headline here for me remains the four tracks with P. Wits, taken from the 2020 7" on Chemical Imbalance. The inclusion of those songs is important not just because that record remains a tricky one to obtain at a reasonable price, but as it represents a little diversion from the path, Benedict Quilter adorning some of Funke's best songs with a little texture and dissonance, darkening the edges, drawing the night in that bit closer. It's on these songs where i think Funke is truly transcendent, recalling those early lonesome Cat Power recordings, where the foreground is all background, if you take my meaning... New Funke on the way next year i hear, but for now there's more than enough past to sink into.