I was very contented while reading Angela Prendergast’s collection of poems “Overthought Thoughts of a 21-Year-Old”. As a composer, I am often tearing through countless volumes of literature, poetry, prose, articles, and text collages in order to find inspiration or function for musical setting. So I may have entered this book somewhat in that mindset. However, I did not leave in that mindset. Angela completely disarmed me, spoke to me with an inviting, concise, and very much a vernacular tone. These brief works are wonderful moments for pause, and come with their own subtle connotations and impressions (AP notes the times when the pieces were written – often in the middle of the night, and offers some very rich, impressionist titles implying that there is much more being said than what is obvious). I enjoyed allowing myself to hear some ephemeral (and clearly frequently-occurring) thoughts in the context of bite-size moments, and enjoyed reflecting on them. AP is speaking in the present, today’s present, even when harkening to the past, and is collect speaks as a snapshot of the immediate moment. These works are lyric, angular, honest, and without stuffiness – and I truly enjoyed them. She has a remarkably endearing technique of referring to the intangible world (so many things felt rather than known, things understood by our soul but not our mind), something I really like love considering and writing about in music. Some of my favorite pieces are “Time”, “Boundaries”, “Don’t Overthink”, “Bull In a China Shop”, and “Grown Cautious”. This is a kind, welcoming, honest, and unpretentious work by an sharing and authentic individual.
