Acoustic singer-songwriter Rosie Thomas is a treasure. At a time when music which can truly touch the listener is excluded from the airwaves and record shops stock only few lesser known albums, this particular treasure will remain largely undiscovered outside the blogosphere.Thomas’ fourth album is her most consistent yet, full of songs for which the hackneyed term “achingly beautiful” was invented for. In this, she is supported by cult folk favourites Damien Jurado, Denison Witmer and Sufjan Stevens. Like the latter, Thomas is a committed Christian. Unlike on her second album, Only With Laughter Can You Win, she does not express her faith explicitly here (nor does she disavow it). The lyrical thread running through the album is love and New York, sometimes both together.
Recorded as live, the album has much by way of engaging personality. The sparse, moving “Why Waste More Time?” is preceded by an appealingly giggly count-in. The cover version of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love”, lovely though it is, seems redundant, but Tomas’ interpretation of Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” captures the intense delicacy of the original.
The highlight, however, is “Much Farther To Go”, a love song in which the arrangement, harmonies and lyrics coalesce to create an evocative hymn to deep yearning.
This intimate set of songs that should serve to compensate for all the soul that is lacking in mainstream music.
Track list:
1. If This City Never Sleeps
2. Why Waste More Time
3. The One I Love
4. Much Farther To Go
5. Paper Doll
6. Kite Song
7. Songbird
8. All The Way To New York City
9. Say Hello
10. These Friends Of Mine
get it
buy it
