Katy Boyd 'Paper Hearts' - Self-Release

A native of California who relocated to England Boyd has in recently returned to music and Paper Hearts is her second album. Produced by guitarist Thomm Jutz in Nashville it takes her songs, often introspective and autobiographical and puts them in a subtle electric folk setting with touches that hint of country and rock that suits their overall nature. Alongside Jutz on guitar, keyboards and harmony vocals are notable local players Fats Kaplin, Mark Fain and Lynn Williams on respectively steel/accordion, bass and drums as well as Justin Moses on fiddle, mandolin and banjo and Boyd on acoustic guitar. Jutz's work with Nanci Griffith should give an idea of how this may sound. Her life and that of many a (single) mother is précised in Happy Single Mother's Day where she expresses that natural frustration which might find her going to "put the kids on E-Bay, free delivery the next day". The songs here all come from the heart and the one cover, Steve Windwood's Can't Find My Way Home, is equally an expression of a person looking for their place in the world. That Boyd has found a way to express these thoughts and emotions and observations is something that is good for her and those who will find a sympathetic voice in her music. The subtle steel that blends into a song like Colors tell of chasing the rainbow "to find a pot of gold". That sense of search pervades the album. There are songs here with immediate appeal like the analogy of life's uncertainties in Circus Folk and the personal indecision of Borderline which finds her hovering "between that man of mine and a ten dollar ticket on the bus line". Some of these lyrics may pass you by on first listen but are reveled on later listening and on the sleeve artwork. This is the work of a set of mature, reflective musicians and will appeal to those of like minds.