'Charming' is always the word that comes to mind when I'm trying to explain the particular appeal of Laura Cantrell - there's something inexpressibly delightful about the music she makes, done with a simplicity, warmth and sweetness which is pretty much irresistible. Take the title track and album opener, say - it drops in so unassumingly, all plinking guitar lines and deceptively casual-sounding singing, throws in a few graceful harmonies on the bridge (or is it a chorus? Whichever it is, love the way her voice wavers and reaches on that first "it's alright"...), then drops back to up-and-down repetitions of the verse and an instrumental break which is basically the guitar restating the main theme over again, follows it up with one more iteration of the bridge, then more repetition of the verse...and then it's over and, me at least, well, I'm charmed anew.
And the whole album is really good. There's not much to say about it, really - it chugs along not seeming to be doing anything remarkable, but there's a kind of grace and elegance to it all which encompasses both the more introspective, slowed-down numbers like "Two Seconds" and the sprightlier pieces (especially "Churches Off The Interstate" and the sweet-as-it-gets "Do You Ever Think Of Me", the swoop of Cantrell's voice on the line "do I ever cross your mind?" in that latter being another too-charming Laura moment); apart from the ones I've already mentioned, currently particularly liking "Queen Of The Coast", "The Whiskey Makes You Sweeter" and waltzy closer "The Way It Is". It just all comes together - Cantrell has an ear for a good song (and her own compositions don't suffer by comparison), a knack for perfect arrangements, and one of my favourite voices in music at the moment (pop and/or country, or whatever). This, her debut, may be better than Humming By The Flowered Vine - which itself ended up as probably one of my three favourite albums released last year (the other two being Funeral, if that counts as an '05 release, and Illinois, which has seriously grown on me since my initial listens) - but, more likely, it's just as good but simply differently wonderful.
