Hannah White Fine Day The Last Music Co
The winner of both UK Album of the Year and UK Artist of the Year at the AMA Awards in London after the release of her 2023 album SWEET REVOLUTION, Hannah White follows those accolades with her latest ten-track album, FINE DAY.
Joined by a host of contributors that included her husband Keiron Marshall on guitar and banjo, Sarah Jory on pedal steel, Gerry Diver on violin and Mike McGoldrick on whistle, White also invited members of her Nordic friends Lars Hammersland on keyboards, Ole Ludvig Krüger on drums, guitar, banjo & trumpet and Svein Henning Berstad on bass, to contribute.
Difficult to pigeonhole into one genre, without forfeiting any degree of fluency, White crosses from soulful gospel (Hard Hitting Memories) to country-noir (Good Questions) and classic pop (Camberwell) to modern folk (Hyla Karula).
The quality of White’s voice alone is worth your attention, but the caliber of her writing and the subject matter she bravely addresses is equally impressive. The true story of a devious child molester is articulated and spectacularly presented in the spine-chilling Man Out There (‘I’ll play a game of pretend; I’m your loveable friend to the very end’). The previously mentioned Good Questions challenges the greed and inequity of today’s world, and on a similar theme, the gentle ballad What Do You Take Me For grapples with the concept of individual powerlessness. Despite its name, the title track speaks of loneliness and isolation. Not to be overwhelmed by downbeat and despairing topics, Glory Overcome tells a tale of growth and fulfilment against all odds, and Hyla Karula rejoices in the simple beauty of nature.
White has never been afraid to lay bare her own vulnerabilities in her writing, but she has widened her lens with this collection of songs. A deeply satisfying listen, with suitable musical arrangements behind White’s vocals, that confronts, head-on, the chaos that surrounds us in these unprecedented times.
Declan Culliton
Forrest VanTuyl Old Trails Proper
Far from romantic or imaginary tales of the Western lifestyle, Forrest VanTuyl's music comes from his experiences and parallel careers as both a singer-songwriter and working cowboy. Growing up on a farm in Western Washington, his early exposure to cowboy songs was singer-songwriter and rodeo champion Chris LeDoux. Another strong influence was noted Canadian artist Ian Tyson.
Dividing his time between being a touring musician performing his shows or playing guitar and bass in his wife Margo Cilker's band, VanTuyl spends the rest of his time on horseback in the remote wilds of Oregon and Washington as a working cowboy. It's an ideal occupation mix, with much of VanTuyl's writing coming from his time spent in the wilderness, both in his day-to-day experiences and gifting him the uninterrupted time and space to consider more personal matters.
Those ups and downs and cold hard facts of that Western lifestyle are laid bare in the title track and The County. The former is a co-write with Margo Cilker and is delivered semi-spoken in a grainy, well-weathered voice and features splashes of fiddle by Clara Baker. The latter recalls the harsh realities of the cowboy plight ('It's snakey and it's steep, it's rocky and it's deep, so bring all the dogs you can haul. It's six months of winter, Range Rider for dinner, square dancin' at the Liberty Hall'). In contrast, the draw and freedom of that line of work is expressed in 160 Horses. Also co-written with Cilker, who is credited as executive producer, is the tender love song Ez 2 Luv u
VanTuyl's capacity to turn everyday simple observations into something more insightful is very much to the fore in OLD TRAILS. It's a lovely listening experience that embraces both folk and Western music.
Declan Culliton
Maia Sharp Tomboy Crooked Crown
Moving from her native California to start a new life in Nashville, following the break-up of a two-decade marriage, may have appeared to be a brave move for singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Maia Sharp. Her 2021 record, MERCY RISING, was written shortly after that move, with her personal circumstances providing her with ample subject matter. Smoothly integrating into the Nashville bohemian music community and environment has found Sharp at her most prolific in recording output for almost two decades, with TOMBOY being her third release in four years, following on from RECKLESS THOUGHTS two years ago.
Sonically, Sharp shifted from her traditional instrumentation on this occasion and finds her experimenting with a more digital sound, primarily using her newfound OP-1 Field mini synth. She also played guitar, saxophone, Mellotron, accordion, piano and added backing vocals and produced the record at her Crooked Crown home studio in Nashville. Essential to the album’s sound was percussionist Eric Darken, whose contributions worked hand in glove with Sharp’s crystal-clear vocals and digital expressions.
Like her peers Mary Gauthier, Amy Speace and Erin Enderlin, Sharp has been working with the Songwriting With Soldiers project and gaining strength from the experience (‘And the things that I thought ranked as a problem just don’t qualify as a problem anymore in the real scheme of things’). Putting challenging times behind her, the latest record finds her in a buoyant, experimental, and retrospective mood. The album’s cover depicts a four-year-old Sharp sporting a variety of impish and tomboy expressions. These snapshots signpost the album’s direction, being one of reflection on a life fully lived to date, one that finds the writer content with her present lot and looking forward to what may follow. The opening and title track revives testing childhood memories (‘A neighbour told my mother once “what a nice young man,” I was mowing the meridian in my t-shirt tan. Just like that, my streak is broken, days with no embarrassing moments. Grown up whispers, nobody understands’). Insecurity also raises its head in the gorgeously melodic Asking for A Friend which includes shared vocals with Terri Clark.
The slow-burning, jazzy, Is That What Love Does considers freedom, whether self-determined or otherwise. Fool In Love Again questions whether that freedom is welcome (‘I’d drop everything, just tell me where and when and I will be a fool, I will be a fool in love again’) or simply a stopgap until the next liaison. The answer to that conundrum may very well lie in the album’s closing track. Featuring Garrison Starr on backing vocals, it’s a cover of U2’s, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.
Calming and meditative, TOMBOY may be, musically, a slight curveball for Sharp, but it further enhances her lofty reputation as a brilliant songwriter, musician and vocalist.
Declan Culliton
The Pleasures Enemy Of My Enemy Uber Savvy
Album two from the Australian duo who as solo artists pursued slightly different musical paths but here combine those to created a musical middle ground that reflects those different influences. Catherine Britt was a country music performer who had a major label deal and was a recipient of International Artist of the Year at the CMAs, while Lachlan Bryan was a member of successful rock band The Wildes. On this new album, and my first to review, there is much to like and, given the different backgrounds, some very different approaches from their respective solo material. The album was recorded in Melbourne and produced and mixed by Damian Cafarella, who was also the drummer on the recordings, with Britt’s husband Brad Bergan handling bass duties. Renowned steel player Tommy Detamore also adds his skill where required.
The title song opens the album and lets you know that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” It is a funky rhythmic track with shared vocals that lets you know they mean business in this relationship breakdown with a “If I hurt you I could care less… let’s get angry, let’s get even” type of attitude - which the album has in spades. The keyboards are very apparent on track two, Was It Something I Said has that kind of Tom Petty crossover roots rock manner that raises that very question, with each taking a verse from the opposing perspective.
Things take a decidedly more alt-country turn on the next track, Where The Money Goes, which features a banjo prominently. This is then followed by Step Away, which is even more decidedly country in tone with pedal steel playing an important part in the sound. It asks a potential partner to do just that, as taking things further are likely not to end well. It shows that a full album of these heartbreak duets could also work well - it is an album highlight. This territory is explored again in It’s OK (Knew What You Meant), with Britt expressing some recognition of another’s viewpoint over a simple acoustic led song of trying to find a way forward. When Bryan comes in the band kick in to give the song a deeper resonance. Equally effecting and again taking the more restrained route is The Rules, all of which are laying out a particular more traditional oriented sound.
The remaining tracks are given a more kicking uptempo sound such as in Wild Things, a guitar riff driven song. This May Hurt A Little Bit draws from overall of theme of misunderstanding and the difficulties of making things work as they should or at least as they might have. Love Relapse lets you know that “I can’t do a thing about it because I’m never winning” but that there is a pattern of relapsing into the same mistakes again, all over a solid musical motif and forward pushing beat. Good People follows a similar tack, letting you know who they would like to be. We end on a more soulful note with A Little Blue, a melodic and thoughtful sense of space and place that leaves you in no doubt that the combining of these two talents and voices is one that can move in a number of different directions and that, inevitably, each listener will have their own selected focal point here - but, in the end, wer’e all friends.
Stephen Rapid
Petunia & The Vipers Callin’ Me Back Self Release
The latest release from this combo will delight existing fans and make new ones of those who may love the mix of hillbilly and swing sounds. It’s a fifteen track record that covers the use of the expanded line up to include a dedicated horn section of players that feature trumpet, tuba, trombone, saxophone, clarinet and French horn. Those acquainted with Petunia’s mostly original songs (there are also two contributions from Devin Champlin and a Jimmie Rogers co-write included) will immediately recognise that they are sung in his distinctive voice and phrasing.
The title track is a winner that cuts up some dust with the guitar/lapsteel sound of longtime studio regulars Stephen Nikleva and Jimmy Roy, also here from that long-time relationship is drummer Paul Townsend. The upright bassist joining them here is Joseph Lubinsky-Mast. This is the core of the band, to which the additional players add layers of sound and seasoning. This is pretty much where they have been since issuing the first album back after the turn of the century. There have been a half dozen albums under that joint banner, as well as an equal number under Petunia’s own name, all offering a glimpse to the past and a view of an alternative future.
If you have ever liked the likes of Ray Condo, Pokey LaFarge, JD Wilkes, Paul Burch, Big Sandy and other purveyors of a individual mix of folk, blues, swing, rockabilly, New Orleans jazz and traditional Hank Williams Sr influenced country, then this album will likely find you settling into its insidious rhythms and enjoying its rhymes and reasons. However it is the songs, direction and vision of Petunia that are the focus point of everything happening. He is, quite obviously, the master of ceremonies and the heart of his music. Make no mistake - while this may not be seen as the cutting edge of country, it is, in its own way, as innovative as those who are adding hip-hop and pop to try and subvert the genre. Rather this is something that is underscoring its seminal roots. In that light it certainly won’t be for everyone, but for others it will be calling them back to a time and place that feels right.
This Vancouver based artist has worked for some time with co-producer Steve Loree, who is himself well know for his role in alt-country band Jr. Gone Wild, and he brings something of that spirit to his production here. This album was initially scheduled for release some five years back but, as with a number of projects, it was put on hold until now. For some releases, such a delay might be something of a disaster but, thought it meant things didn’t go as planned back then, the music has such a timeless quality that it didn’t lose any of its essence. The song Billy The Kid tells the story of an Old West legend with a sonic sensibility that fits the theme to a ‘t’, while The Blue Yodel Blues takes a very different approach that channels Jimmie Rodgers and shows off Petunia’s yodelling skills too. Another song that takes the message of the lovelorn and lonely into an orchestral setting that sounds like it should have been a feature of a past cherished musical is the final track Inside Of You. It emotes that “Feeling like a loner when I walk down the street /For feeling like a loner, this song came to me / Now I cry out for all our souls, for all to claim one as their own / An invitation that only goes out to the brave.” It also underlines that Petunia is a songwriter of no small skill.
Petunia has mentioned that he learns from inspirational writers and singers until he begins to feel that a song in that character begins to emerge and then he hones that to the final songs we hear here. It became a less self-conscious process and is now his modus operandi, which he can then bring to the stage. He has been working this way in the studio and stage for many years now. That calling is something we can be grateful for.
Stephen Rapid
Chandler Dozier Bakersfield East Self Release
While much has been made of the resurgence of some exponents of 90s country, my heart and love of country started with Dwight Yoakam in the 80s, ’86 with the release of his debut, in fact. Prior to that there had been brief non-immersive encounters with the L.A. country music experiments of The Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers. There were some recent artists who delved into the Bakersfield sound, something that the late Billy Block defined as Western Beat and I think that description best fits the music of that time. Singer/songwriters like George Ducas and Moot Davis in the 90s and 2000s referenced that sound and both at one point worked with Yoakam’s producer, Pete Anderson. There have been other more recent aficionados attracted to that sound and beat too, some have moved on and others are still exploring, but it is essential to have new adherents to that distinctive sound.
So now eyes are turned to newcomer Chandler Dozier, who has just released a debut mini-album of six tracks. It leaves one wanting more, as any good introduction should. Five of the songs are originals, while the other is a telling cover of Move It On Over from Hank Williams Sr. Dozier also looks the part - no outlaw long hair and beard, no backward baseball hat, just a clear love for classic country and the ability to deliver it with a fresh outlook that does not hide its influences, but instead perfects them into something that sounds individual and compares favourably with Yoakam’s own recent output.
Dozier is a stylised singer and fine guitar player and is supported by his own players, including Jimmy Lester on drums, bassist Luca Chiappara, Tyler Feehery on pedal steel, David Lukens on piano, fiddler Leah Sawyer and Gideon on dobro, as well as Reed Stutz on backing vocals. Many of these, I would imagine, have helped Dozier find his feet and live sound in sets played in Lower Broadway’s honky-tonks.
It is hard to pick a song to highlight, as there is not a track you would want to skip over here. The whole thing is pretty much a perfect introduction to a new artist who at 23 is playing, producing and writing like a seasoned veteran. The tag neo-traditionalist is in some ways correct and the one used when Yoakam, Randy Travis and Steve Earle first emerged. There are others who are drawing from similar sources but Dozier, one hopes, is about to build a career on such strong instincts and that is more than a launch pad into different directions. There’s no doubt he could do that and also that his heroes Dwight Yoakam, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard themselves were open to different explorations of the parameters of the music, but all seemed to return to their core values. Dozier has a ways to go yet, but has made a great start.
It’s Not Me It’s You, All Over Again, Dancing With A Memory, Let Me Be and When You Land In Charlotte would fit on any album by his chosen inspirations, but they are all here now on BAKERSFIELD EAST. If you have enjoyed the music that came from that iconic location in the past, I recommend a visit as soon as you can.
Stephen Rapid
Grayson Hugh Save Your Love For Me River Soul
A generous fourteen songs over one hour of music is something that takes a dedicated listener to absorb in these days of short attention spans. Many among the public like to ‘consume’ music as a commodity, wanting nothing more that single sound bites for inclusion on increasingly sanitized play lists. Credit then is due to an artist who is making a celebrated ‘come back’ from years in the background, seemingly disillusioned by the music machine that dictated his career back in the 1980s.
Grayson Hugh has an impressive vocal power and pure tone, with his early career more focused upon a Soul/Blues/Gospel direction, with a select number of his songs featuring in high profile movies such as Thelma and Louise and also Fried Green Tomatoes.
It’s an interesting story; one of a young musical talent who delivers some initial big hitters, only to fade from view, a victim of record label changes and corporate politics. Grayson took a subsequent step away from the barricades and channelled his dream into other directions. However, in 2009 a solo comeback album An American Record was launched, and this was followed in 2015 with Back To the Soul. In between, an occasional EP and some demo releases have surfaced, but for a number of years Grayson taught songwriting at the Berklee College of Music.
This new album has been five years in the making, and whatever the original disappointments and their causes, Grayson Hugh is back with a real statement of his excellence and proof that real talent never dissipates. A song about the onset of Spring opens the album with Cleanin’ the Cobwebs and something of a metaphor for new beginnings and fresh optimism. The next song has the artist playing a local gig in Coggin Hill which is located in Maine, and he’s missing his girl. The country swing in the sound is very appealing ‘This lonesome highway is like a river movin' slow, I've got to move on, all night right through the dawn, still got a long way to go.‘
There are some really superb musicians on the album, with the ensemble playing so beautifully captured in the superb production. The magic is provided by Grayson Hugh (lead vocals/ grand piano/Hammond B3 organ, keyboard accordion, keyboard pedal steel, synthesizer, baritone saxophone, congas, drums, tympani and frottoir),Cindy Cashdollar (dobro/lap steel guitar), Tony Garnier (acoustic upright bass), Pete Kennedy (acoustic, electric, baritone guitars/mandolin/banjo), Gary Oleyar(fiddle/rockabilly electric guitar), Tyger MacNeal (drums), and Polly Messer on harmony vocals. The songs defy genre traps and deliver an eclectic mix, with a leaning towards country/soul as a signpost.
The atmospheric What Are We Waiting For? has a sweet groove in a song about seizing the moment and appreciating all that exists in a relationship. I Had A Dream looks at stealing away and hiding out while on the road, where you never know what may happen, of an afternoon, at the Dixie Comfort Inn. There is an addictive Bayou beat to the superb I’ll Get To It with sage advice to ditch the cheating girl, and both percussion and piano adding to the accordion and brass in colouring the melody. The superb country fiddle of Gary Oleyar compliments the sweet harmony vocals of Polly Messer on a rhythmic Save Your Love For Me, another song about coming home to your loved one.
On Summertime Return the theme is repeated on a slow reflective song about a returning lover. The Hank Williams classic I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry is given a great bluesy rendition with Polly Mesner trading verses with Grayson in a fine interpretation of such a timeless tune. The gospel feel on Carry Me is a standout moment with the song arrangement building slowly, and there is a Dr John meets Little Feat in the New Orleans groove to Wide Awake. Early Eagles country rock finds a way into the melody on A Whole Lot Of Love, with stellar piano from Grayson. Another country song is The Wrong Side Of Me and a threat that revenge comes to those who cross the line. Hoppin’ On the Housatonic is pure rockabilly with great guitar breaks and a country swing included. The Housatonic is a river and you better come dressed for the occasion once the locals meet to dance it up ‘we gonna be out til the sun is comin’ up, drinks are cold, band is hot, gonna have a good time, ready or not.’
The final song is Way Beyond The World Of You & Me (A Letter To My Love) and it captures the essence of Mother Earth with all its glorious mystery. Grayson then juxtaposes this hymn to nature with the grim reality of city living ‘I wandered lost for days in ten broken cities, in places filled with people without pity, where buildings grew and blotted out the sky, and the only smile I saw was the full moon’s eye.’ So beautifully observed and a very appropriate ending to what is one of my albums of the year. An essential purchase.
Paul McGee
Morgan Wade The Party Is Over (recovered) Sony
Such a well timed look back into the early years of this gifted artist who has battled many of life’s challenges at such a young age. Addiction, a broken home, a double mastectomy in her early 20’s, and the resilience and fortitude to rise above the challenges and break through all barriers of self -doubt.
In March 2022, I was introduced to this new songwriting talent as a part of the C2C weekend in Dublin. She sang a few songs, in the round, with two other female artists, Tiera Kennedy and Priscilla Block. It was an unlikely alliance early in the evening and for me Morgan blew the other ladies offstage with the powerful honesty in the songs she sang and in their delivery. Both of the other performers on that evening have subsequently debuted solo albums in recent years, whereas we find Morgan Wade on her fifth release since 2018. Career momentum is a strong indicator of endurance.
The ten tracks included here are mostly early songs taken from a time when Morgan was in a different place and head-space. Her parents divorced when she was 5 years old and she spent a lot of her youth in the company of her grandparents. After her school years she attended college to study in the health sciences and began writing songs to express her inner thoughts. The influence of peer pressure, while absorbing the full college experience, can spill into a hedonistic lifestyle in trying to find out just who you might be. Throw in struggles with self-identity, and coming out the other end, and you present a challenging road for any young woman.
The songs are from this period in Morgan’s life and they are heartfelt, personal and cathartic. It’s strongly compelling in the listening experience, where the emotion cannot be ignored in both the words and the honesty in the self-analysis that’s at play. Morgan Wade sings from a personal perspective and in seeking the path in her emerging journey that has ultimately led to critical acclaim. We are looking at real star quality here, and she is a welcome addition to the club of acknowledged artists. All those young dreams that Morgan once hoped would come true, are now manifest.
Many of these old songs reflect her experiences at the time, in beginning to explore new boundaries. There are broken hearts, situations that she would not want to find herself in again, plenty of fun times getting high, and trying to reconcile the lessons to be learned in the cold light of day. There is also unrequited love, aimless love and everything in between, until you find yourself in a relationship that endures… notably the result of learning to love yourself first.
Titles such as High In Your Apartment, and Songs I Won’t Remember track the use of artificial highs to attain a place of numbing the pain of untethered emotion ‘We got high in your apartment, You got drunk out in my car, Yeah we’ll lose it all’ and, in the second song ‘So take me out and get me drunk, Teach me things I forgot about love, And sing me songs I won’t remember, Get high, head home.’
Candy From Strangers tells of parental warnings ‘Mama said don’t go taking no candy from strangers, She never told me nothing about no shots from boys in bars, Everybody in this place looks like pure danger.’ In Let Us Down we are given a glimpse into a relationship with a married man ‘It got real old drinking when you’re drinking just to have fun, You don’t look too happy but who am I to judge.’ Again in East Coast there is a failed relationship and the reflection ‘I hope you know I loved you the most, Yeah, but you took the life out of me.’
Songs that speak to the vagaries of youth and the dangers that lay waiting to be revealed, prompting regret and then real work in turning bad experiences into valuable life lessons. Four of the songs included here also appeared on her self released 2018 album PUPPETS WITH MY HEART which she recorded with her band at the time, The Stepbrothers. There is one new song included here and it is the very poignant Hardwood Floor, a most difficult subject matter as it lays bare the stark reality of what lies in the road ahead for Morgan. In March 2024, she chose to undergo a double mastectomy after testing positive for the RAD5ID gene, which, along with a family history of breast cancer, puts her at great risk. She will eventually need to have a hysterectomy and her ovaries removed to prevent ovarian cancer. This song reflects upon the urge for motherhood and the lines “I wanna be quiet closing a nursery door, I wanna hear little feet on a hardwood floor,” a dream that will never come true for her. Entirely heartbreaking.
Morgan Wade has a strong self-regard these days, which is essential in the face of the ever-increasing media attention and scrutiny. Her inner strength has been hard won, but her road has seen her develop into a woman of serious gravitas and someone to be greatly admired. In looking back, she may well have released her most potent album to date, with the confessional vulnerability of her songwriting building a sense of self that looks forward into her very bright future.
Paul McGee
Florence Sommerville Endless Horizon Self Release
This is a very impressive debut album from a singer-songwriter who hails from a small Essex village in England. The twelve songs give the impression that this musician has wisdom beyond her years with her finely honed insights and perspectives, whether gained from personal experience or from observation. There are six co-writes included, with the remaining six songs self-penned. An interesting mix that points towards her song craft developing in the best possible way, by combining personal sentiment with the discipline brought from other writers who can offer experience, nuance, and different shades to these collaborations. There is a temptation to put her into a pop country package because of her young age but that would just be lazy assumption. What you get is a considered songwriter who tips more than a passing hat to the older traditions of country music while placing her own unique stamp upon these song arrangements and melodies.
There is a happy optimism on Cut and Run where the urge is to just get away from the daily routine with a new partner ‘What about it baby if we just ran away, Leave the questions and the answers for another day.’ Independence is the again the theme on Fearless with the bravery of youth reflected in taking risks ‘If there’s chances, I’m takin’ em, If there’s rules, well I’m breakin’ em, They say no, I say yes, I have always been fearless.’ The message on (I’ll Be Your) Best Broken Heart is that the lady is not looking for commitment, just a good time without any ties ‘I’m here for a season, I’m known for loving and leaving, I’ve got a gypsy soul, That’s something that you need to know.’ Summer fling anyone?
There are songs that echo relationship break-ups such as Overton, Broken Pieces, and Silly Little Things. Unrequited love is the topic on other songs such as California and Love Me Then, whereas the impact of addiction in a relationship is something that runs through the lyric on Forget the Water ‘Every time you hit me with that sideways smile, I would take you in like some lost wayward child, Now all I see is a grown man acting foolish, And the fool that used to love you in denial.’ Molasses is yet another song that references being under pressure in a toxic relationship ‘So go and stay gone, Don’t haunt me anymore.’
The joy of growing up in rural England is captured on the excellent Out Where the Love Grows and acknowledgement of the quiet country town memories of her youth ‘When you need reminding of who you are, This place brings you back like a guiding star.’ Boots In the Rain is a song about the joy that music can bring and the need to travel in pursuit of a dream ‘Got a song in my soul, A heart that don’t want to be tamed, And some boots in the rain.’ There are four bonus tracks on the CD version and the two covers are well delivered in Landslide (Fleetwood Mac) and Sweet Child Of Mine (Guns and Roses). Whiskey In the Morning is another song about the price paid for addiction and the cost involved for others, ‘He’s used to everything spinning, don’t want to know what he’s missing, most days he’s just happy it all goes away.’ An acoustic version of Love Me Then is further confirmation of the fine performances that Florence delivers across all of the songs included.
The sound production is crystal clear and full marks to producer Alan West and engineer Adam Sweet in their vision for the songs. The band is comprised of Florence Sommerville (lead and harmony vocals, guitar), Damon Sawyer (drums), Nick Bayes (bass), Tom Wright and Adam Sweet (acoustic and electric guitars), Tom Berge (electric piano), and John Taylor (harmony vocals). Florence has an impressive vocal range, changing her tone in the delivery, with both power and subtlety used in appropriate measure in her performance. At the tender age of only twenty-one, she has certainly announced herself as a real talent to the various music media platforms. As debut albums go, this one is punching well above its weight and certainly worthy of your attention.
Paul McGee