Catie Curtis has always been a refined and thoughtful songwriter, and her albums have tended to be on the more laid back side of the US folk singer/songwriter genre.

Her songwriting is on top form, particularly on the opening half of this album which are as good as anything she’s ever released; the musical approach is a little edgier and upbeat than much of previous material, almost stepping into the Aimee Mann folk/pop territory with the title track, and it’s an approach that really pays dividends as it creates extra colour and contrast across the disc.

She’s gathered together a first rate group of musicians to create the album including Duke Levine,  Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Wolf, Lisa Loeb and Glenn Patscha (Ollabelle), who all add a traditional range of instruments and backing vocals to create the varied soundscape.

Highlights include the upbeat title track, the excellent closing song ‘Seeds and Tears’, and the atmospheric ‘Highway Del Sol’; but rather than picking out individual songs this collection is as much about the sequencing and the overall flow of the album.

Track listing
1 Let it Last
2 Shadowbird
3 Highway del Sol
4 Stretch Limousine on Fire
5 River Wide
6 Another Day on Earth
7 After Hours
8 I Do
9 Wedding Band
10 Seeds and Tears

£12.99

review 6 September 2011