Saucy spaghetti & meatballs. That’s how Aly Spaltro, a.k.a. Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, describes her music during a recent visit to the Soundcheck studio. “It’s pretty saucy,“ she says. “A little messy and sloppy -- in a good way. And, it has some balls.”

After a series of intriguing bedroom demos, the singer, songwriter and guitarist is releasing her debut studio album, Ripely Pine (out Feb 19th). On the record’s rather disarming opening notes, Spaltro’s voice sounds rich and gorgeous, woozy and strange. “Take me by the arm to the altar / take me by the collar to the cliff / take me by the hair to the ferris wheel” she sings until the drums kick in, her guitar starts to scream, all that saucy, messy, ballsy stuff begins to unfold.

The folk-tinged songs – which Spaltro wrote alone in the middle of the night at a secondhand DVD shop in Brunswick, Maine, where she worked as a clerk -- have a late-night quality to them. They’re contemplative with a healthy dose of a snarl and a bit of dark desperation -- the same stuff that she’s used to great acclaim in her powerful solo shows. But it’s her skill as multi-instrumentalist and arranger that makes this album so striking.

Here, Spaltro surrounds herself with a small army of musicians and miles of sonic texture. Strings, horns and clarinets cleverly accent “Mezzanine”; a soaring 10-voice choir turns “The Nothing Part II” into a revival; autoharp and omnichord make the uber-catchy “Rooftop” at once Baroque and brash. And “Crane Your Neck,” a mini-epic at nearly seven minutes, moves through chapters and movements, showcasing Spaltro’s unpredictable songcraft and her fierce guitar work.

Ripely Pine is album that’s been years in the making – but that’s been a good thing for the young songwriter. “I’ve had space to think” she sings on “Bird Balloons,” “and I think that I’ve grown a little wiser.” She found the space and growth and smarts to make saucy spaghetti and meatballs sound nothing less than majestic.

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