Richard Thompson – “Broken Doll”

Richard Thompson – “Broken Doll”

Singer-songwriter Richard Thompson is an elder statesman of British folk at this point, having amassed an impressive discography since his start with the Fairport Convention in 1967. And he’s still going strong, with a new Jeff Tweedy-produced record, Still, due to be released in a few weeks. Following “All Buttoned Up” and “Beatnik Walking,” “Broken Doll” is the third track he’s shared from that collection. It’s an impeccably arranged and produced song with a fragile, disquieting cracked-porcelain beauty that matches its subject matter. As Thompson told the A.V. Club:

“Broken Doll” deals with characters with mental illness. Jeff Tweedy overdubbed some elements that add to the sense of unease on the track — notably a Marxophone, a Victorian instrument that gives a hammered dulcimer-like sound, and a chromatic and dissonant organ, which is swirling in the background.”

“All the tears in the world won’t mend a broken doll,” Thompson laments. Listen below.

Still is out 6/23 via Concord Music Group.

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