Webster’s defines anomaly as a deviation from the common rule, but look a little farther and you’ll find another definition: hard to classify. And that might be the best way to describe musician Namoli Brennet. Brennet was born male and transitioned to female, but like many gender-variant types, she simply identifies as “trans”. There’s something touching and achingly poignant about Brennet’s voice – maybe it’s the sound of transgender, the experience of knowing what it feels like to be unstable, on the edge, a little hard to define. In the wrong hands that could easily turn sentimental, but with Brennet’s deft touch the songs have an edge, a rawness and a gritty realness that steers clear of typical singer/songwriter territory. And just like you’d expect from an over-achieving multi-instrumentalist with a composition degree: she does play nearly everything.
Her technique draws on a wide range of influences, everyone from Shawn Colvin and Jonatha Brooke to Patty Griffin and Joni Mitchell. There’s also the fact that she’s equally at home on the piano or mandolin. But beyond the technical is something way more important: Brennet has an innate understanding of the language of music, and she skillfully uses it to communicate insights that are both poetic and powerful.
As someone who both engineers and produces her own CDs, there isn’t much stopping Namoli from putting out records, and her prolific output is pretty remarkable: since 2002 she’s self-produced and engineered 8 CDs starting with Boy in a Dress; her most recent release, Black Crow, was released in February 2010. In addition to her songwriting, Brennet has also written several commissions for Chorus & Piano as well as scoring 2 plays: Boy (2008), and an adaptation of The Odyssey written by Pulitzer-Prize winner Derek Walcott. Her music has also been featured in the upcoming documentary Out in the Silence. So yes, she’s hard to classify, but like all good things yet undiscovered she’s just waiting to be found.
"Gorgeous and introspective."
-Jamie Manser, Zocalo Magazine
