Diamond Girl

So much music these days, earnest in its attempt at originality, sounds like permutations of the same indie formula. That’s why my first listen to Bring Me the Workhorse, the debut album from My Brightest Diamond, was such a revelation. Here was something mature, original and strangely powerful. Who was this woman with the dark, piercing voice? What were these operatic strings doing mixed with drums and guitar? It was music to swoon to, sincere music with which to unapologetically fall in love.

The growling, trilling, muscular vocals belong to Shara Worden, a classically trained opera singer turned pop musician who’s the backbone of My Brightest Diamond. Worden was originally attracted to avant-garde performers like Rebecca Moore and Antony and the Johnsons when they performed in downtown clubs, and she later developed her singular vision by performing in the same NYC venues with her band Awry. She now elicits apt comparisons to Portishead and PJ Harvey for her group’s gothic pop sensibility and raw guitar sounds. Along the way Sufjan Stevens invited her to sing backup on his Illinois album and later she went on tour with him as one of the Illinoisemakers (where she became “Head Cheerleader”). That playful spirit continues to influence her music, which could easily descend into a pit of melancholy but instead rises and rests on a cushion of hope.

It’s all made possible due to that voice, which she continues to hone with weekly lessons. Her attention to craft also helps her reconcile the choice to pursue pop rather than classical music. “I used to question why I’d chosen songwriting, which has so many limitations: technically and expressively,” she explains. “[Pop music] much easier to digest, and I couldn’t understand it. I thought it was somehow inferior.” But she also admits she kept “screwing up” along the way to being an opera singer. She’d get a chance at a part “and then I’d go inline skating; I kept getting screamed at for being irresponsible.”

Instead of learning Italian and earning a masters in music, she began to experiment with her guitar, which eventually led her to work on two albums. She wrote all the lyrics and string parts for Bring Me the Workhorse, which was released this past August. But she hasn’t given up on her experimental route: To further define her “sonic world,” she also wrote and recorded A Thousand Sharks Teeth, a string album that she says is more ethereal, less rock—what she describes as a “Henry Mancini approach to strings”—scheduled to be released next year. She’s also working this winter on a remix album of Bring Me the Workhorse tracks (“I want to get my minute on the DJ turntable!”).

Comfortable with playing intimate venues, Worden recently got her taste of the big time when My Brightest Diamond opened for Sufjan Stevens on his most recent tour. During last month’s Town Hall concert, the dramatic lighting and costumes that would befit her lush and haunting sound were missing. Instead she was shunted to the side of a grand piano under harsh white lights. When asked about the situation, she’s thoughtful and explains, “I’m still wrestling with what I’ve made and how to present that. I loved playing for thousands of people, but there’s still this internal struggle, this idea that I have a ‘right’ to be heard.”

Even if she’s struggling with the little details, she has a big idea of what she’d like to ultimately achieve. She recalls seeing Nina Simone years ago at the Beacon Theater: “There was every age group, every race, all economic levels there because of the music. It’s something I’ve heard Dolly Parton is able to do as well. It’s not about how technical the music is, but it’s something worthy of dedicating your life to.”

My Brightest Diamond’s next NYC performance is Nov. 20.