Jenee Halstead The River Grace(2010)[FLAC]

2010 the river grace /hollow bones ep Continental Song City, CSCCD 1067


1 Before I Go
2 Deep Dark Sea
3 River Grace
4 Nick Drake
5 Darkest Day
6 Drunkard’s Lullaby
7 Dusty Rose
8 Reach Up
9 Skipping Stones
10 St.Peter

Hollow Bones EP tracks
11 Damascus
12 Good Lookin’ Boy
13 Hollow Bones
14 La Luna Roja
15 Banks Of The Mississippi



It’s taken a year or so for Jenee Halstead’s debut album to make it from Cambridge, MA to Europe , but it’s certainly been worth the wait as this pressing includes 5 bonus tracks from her ‘Hollow Bones’ EP in addition to the 10 songs of ‘The River Grace’.

A modern American folk singer/songwriter in the truest sense of the genre, Jenee has much in common with Patty Griffin & Shawn Colvin in both writing style and delivery, what is more impressive is the fact that this is her first album and the quality of the writing is up there with the very best. She’s a keenly observant writer and has an eye for detail way beyond that of a young artist, and there are some lyrics here that really stand out, notably on ‘Darkest Day’ where she paints a vivid picture of a stolen car and the story that unfolds.

Musically, this is appears fairly traditional with acoustic guitar taking the lead, with a band of mandolin, bass, dobro and more, but there’s a definite contemporary feel in places that gives the album a unique atmosphere, and makes it stand out from the crowd – it’s delicate, but much more complex and constructed than it first appears.

Vocally she shares many attributes with Griffin, the range and phrasing certainly have distinct similarities, and this is no bad thing as it makes the whole collection immediately engaging and somewhat familiar; but from the first listen in its obvious Halstead is ploughing her own furrow with her mix of traditional and contemporary themes.

The addition of the 5 ‘Hollow Bones’ tracks are a definite bonus, these tracks were written and recorded after the original release of ‘The River Grace’, but they follow on seamlessly and show the natural development of an artist.

All 15 tracks here show mark the arrival of a talented and impressive artist – this is a beautifully understated record, but everything is perfectly balanced resulting in one of the most memorable albums in recent memory.

cd ripped by dBpoweramp

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[url]http://dickthespic.org/2011/01/18/jenee-halstead/[/url]