Blood, Allison Moorer’s new memoir and album, recounts the shocking story of how her father killed her mother and then himself after years of abusive behaviour. The unmitigated horror of her childhood experience is faced head on and she contemplates the legacy of such trauma and loss in her adult life. Unflinchingly honest and achingly raw, Blood is one of the most profoundly moving testaments to the pain of grief and the power of love that I have ever experienced. Continue reading “Review: Allison Moorer – ‘Blood’”
Album Review: Sarah Jane Scouten – Confessions
Canadian singer songwriter Sarah Jane Scouten’s new album Confessions, takes us on a journey into the dark side of her heart, with some beautifully bewitching results. Continue reading “Album Review: Sarah Jane Scouten – Confessions”
E.P. Review: Lucy Dacus – 2019
In 2018 Lucy Dacus released one of the best albums of the year and a collaborative EP as part of boygenius, both of which cemented her place as one of our brightest and best young songwriters. This year she has spent time touring and releasing occasional singles and covers, the results of which are collected in this EP 2019. Continue reading “E.P. Review: Lucy Dacus – 2019”
E.P. Review: Aoife O’Donovan – In the Magic Hour Solo Sessions
After touring with the collective I’m With Her for most of the last couple of years Aoife O’Donovan is now back as a solo artist releasing her new acoustic E.P. ‘In the Magic Hour Solo Sessions’. As suggested by the title four of these songs are versions of tracks from her last solo album ‘In the Magic Hour’ which was released in 2016 and she also adds a couple of well chosen cover songs to the track-listing. Continue reading “E.P. Review: Aoife O’Donovan – In the Magic Hour Solo Sessions”
Album Review: Sarah Klang – Creamy Blue
Self confessed ‘saddest girl in Sweden’ Sarah Klang has previously toured with First Aid Kit and mixes vintage pop influences with her love of all things Americana. Her new album ‘Creamy Blue’ is a selection of sumptuous and beautiful songs that you can’t help falling for. Continue reading “Album Review: Sarah Klang – Creamy Blue”
Album Review: Erin Enderlin – Faulkner County
Erin Enderlin’s last album Whiskeytown Crier was a richly realised collection of classic country songwriting. Her follow up Faulkner County, continues in the same vein, full of achingly beautiful stories and songwriting that speaks to the heart. Continue reading “Album Review: Erin Enderlin – Faulkner County”
Album Review: Miranda Lambert – Wildcard
Miranda Lambert’s last album The Weight of These Wings and the Pistol Annies’ Interstate Gospel are not just two of my favourite records of the last few years but indeed of all time. The former is one of the reasons I started writing this blog, and the latter has been a constant friend to me ever since its release. So to say I have been waiting in anticipation for Miranda’s new record is somewhat of an understatement.
On the other hand my intense connection with those two records has also made me nervous. After all how could anyone, even a country music genius like Miranda Lambert, possibly follow up the emotional depth and lyrical scope of those two albums? Continue reading “Album Review: Miranda Lambert – Wildcard”
Live Review: Caroline Spence with Roseanne Reid @ The Glad Cafe, Glasgow
‘This is a really special show,’ Caroline Spence announced during her set in Glasgow’s Glad Cafe on a chilly Friday evening. She was being self-deprecating after fluffing a few chords, but the warm response from the crowd proved that it really was the truth. Continue reading “Live Review: Caroline Spence with Roseanne Reid @ The Glad Cafe, Glasgow”
Album Review: Karen & the Sorrows – Guaranteed Broken Heart
When I first started the blog back in 2017 one of my favourite new artist discoveries was New York based Karen and the Sorrows, a band front by Karen Pittleman who were expanding the horizons of alternative country music. Finding a place in the genre has always been challenging for minority groups so it was a breath of fresh air to hear a band that were proudly queer and committed to creating safe space for LGBT fans who didn’t connect with its conservative, traditional roots. Continue reading “Album Review: Karen & the Sorrows – Guaranteed Broken Heart”