While Sarah's previous two albums were both excellent singer/songwriter discs, her sound was slowly moving away from her earlier acoustic style and towards a more produced feel. The release of 'I'm A Mountain' marks a firm step back towards an acoustic, rootsy feel and in-turn succeeds in making this disc stand out from the crowd.
It has a laid back easy feel with a gentle bluegrass theme running throughout - it feels natural and honest with gorgeous instrumention spread across the 11 songs. Whilst the core of album is made up from guitars and acoustic bass, the colour is provided by accordion, mandolin, fiddle and some excellent backing vocals.
Her vocals are smooth, sweet and unforced and at times seem to glide around the backing; the acoustic sound certainly suits her much better than more produced and complex arrangements.
The songs are strong throughout with 8 from her own pen and three well-chosen covers, in particular Dolly Parton's 'Will He Be Waiting for Me?' hits the mark, and her own 'I'm a Mountain' and 'Oleander' are standout tracks.
An excellent country/folk album with a real 'hand-built' feel and buckets of charm - highly recommended.

1 The Ring
2 I Am A Glow
3 Oleander
4 I'm A Mountain
5 Goin' Out...
6 Will He Be Waiting For Me?
7 Escarpment Blues
8 The Phoenix
9 Salamandre
10 Luthers Got The Blues
11 How Deep In The Valley

£13.49