Marissa Nadler sings her dark, mysterious lyrics in a hazy soprano that would appeal as much to a Medieval sailor navigating the ocean by moonlight as to the cabaretgoers of Belle Époque Paris. The local guitar picking chanteuse, who regularly draws crowds on the West Coast, in the UK, and in Western Europe, plays dreamy, melancholy, gothic-kissed tunes that bring form to the most elusive of yearnings. She reminds us of Elliot Smith, if Elliot Smith sang about Virginia Wolfe and made Edgar Allen Poe references. Nadler makes her holiday homecoming tonight at T.T. the Bear’s (10 Brookline Street, Cambridge, 617.492.2327) with Akron/Family. Tickets are $10. Get them at www.ticketweb.com or 866.468.7619. Doors open at 8:30 p.m.
