After starting out in a Canadian college rock band in the mid 90s, Sarah Harmer has trod a varied singer/songwriter path with albums that have trod a broadly acoustic path, with her last album ‘I’m A Mountain’ being the most folk influenced collection.
Four years after ‘I’m A Mountain’ her new disc marks a change in style to a more direct and strident style, with acoustic guitar based songs generally giving way to full band tracks; and interestingly her more considered and contemplative lyrics have been replaced by a more direct style. While her approach has changed for this collection, her individual, clean and pure vocals are still present and correct, and as with her previous albums she stands as a distinct artist ina sea of North American singer/songwriters.
While most of the songs are layered with guitars, bass and drums, there’s still place for a good degree of variety over the 11 songs, ‘The City’ is a full sounding track with a great chorus and hook, ‘New Loneliness’ is an open and mysterious track, and ‘Silverado’, the album’s only cover, has its roots firmly planted in the folk scene.
Sarah Harmer remains one of the most independent and interesting artists on the contemporary folk scene, she’s certainly not afraid to take a risk and develop her sound, and that always results in rewarding albums.
Track listing
1 The Thief
2 Captive
3 New Loneliness
4 One Match
5 Careless
6 Washington
7 Late Bloomer
8 The City
9 Silverado
10 The Marble in Your Eye
11 It Will Sail
