The buzz: Recorded in just five days under the ever-watchful ears of producer Danny Kadar (My Morning Jacket, Grizzly Bear), Samantha Crain’s debut LP is set to seduce everyone on Paste magazine’s subscription list (naturally, the rag called her out late last year as an artist to watch).
The verdict: Exceedingly pleasant, Crain makes a well-executed attempt at bridging freak-folk and neo-Americana, with a meaningful nod toward current tones and full band instrumentation. She’s not playing a harp or some homemade instrument and pretending modern music confuses her fragile sensibilities. Nope, the Oklahoma native comes out subtly swinging with a picky acoustic guitar that’s quickly augmented by a solid backing band on opener “Rising Sun,” and the mid-album “Bullfight (Change Your Mind)” hints at an amped up approach that could set her apart from the crowded field of indie-roots not–Norah Joneses. Lots of the other tracks sound familiar (vaguely sorta upbeat and kind of meandering, mostly folky at heart, probably about old loves or the fear/wonder of being alive), but Crain’s honest voice and lack of empty theatricality sell them so that the shortcomings may be overlooked long enough to enjoy the album on certain Sunday afternoons or Tuesday nights.
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