Across an extended series of good to verging on great records (Tambourine in particular still gets plenty of plays),[*] I don't know that Merritt has ever been so consistently sweetly, gently yearning as she is here. There's a bit of straight-up country, a pronounced folk hue, and slices of the americana-styled soul at which she's so adept (most notably the melancholy/triumphant "Heartache is an Uphill Climb"); at the risk of descending into cliche, it's a record that feels like a river, so smoothly does it flow.
A few stand out over the first several listens - "Heartache", the folkily chiming and Raymond Carver poem-repurposing "My Boat" (reminding me inevitably of A New Path to the Waterfall), the clean melodies and clear vocals of "Love Soldiers On", "Stitch of the World" and "Something Came Over Me" - but over time every song comes into focus, as the record as a whole reveals itself. It's a grower; it has a glow.
[*] Bramble Rose, Tambourine, Another Country, See You On The Moon, Traveling Alone
File with: Laura Cantrell, Lisa Miller
A few stand out over the first several listens - "Heartache", the folkily chiming and Raymond Carver poem-repurposing "My Boat" (reminding me inevitably of A New Path to the Waterfall), the clean melodies and clear vocals of "Love Soldiers On", "Stitch of the World" and "Something Came Over Me" - but over time every song comes into focus, as the record as a whole reveals itself. It's a grower; it has a glow.
[*] Bramble Rose, Tambourine, Another Country, See You On The Moon, Traveling Alone
File with: Laura Cantrell, Lisa Miller
