Lissie, A Fine Frenzy, Courtyard Hounds and Abi Moore

I occasionally find a singer who becomes an instant favourite. Amy McDonald and Brandi Carlile come to mind. Lissie is the latest. Catching a Tiger is the first album from Elisabeth Maurus and I am not alone in thinking her songs are truly great. The publicity on the front cover of the CD says "A present day icon for lovers of both blues, folk and country...." and so I was not surprised to hear such great tracks as my favourite "everywhere I go". Absolutely brilliant.
P.S. And then I find that she was born in Rock Island, Illinois, the city that inspired the song "Rock Island Line", the first record in my list of 131 Songs. I should have known.

A Fine Frenzy's latest album Bomb in a Birdcage is just as good as the last. Alison Sudol is such a good writer of poetic, cheery, quirky, but never inaccessible songs. Another triumph.

Courtyard Hounds are Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, the two sisters who are the backing singers and instrumentalists to Natalie Mains lead vocals in the Dixie Chicks. Here they are on their own with a self titled album. They and Natalie had started writing individual songs for the second Dixie Chicks album so this CD gives them an opportunity to continue writing their own material. Not an unqualified success, but their country style just stays on the edge of folk/rock to be acceptable to my ears. Good production and a decent band make for an album that does get better on repeat listening.

But I cannot say the same for Abi Moore's things we should've said.... I first heard her during a stop at Cafe Nero on the southbank last year and was impressed. But her album was only on Amazon and cost a fortune. But when it became available elsewhere at a normal price recently (still £18.99 at Amazon), I took a chance. This is her second album and I have to say most of the songs are pretty ordinary. Her voice is OK but her uptempo compositions seem a little amateurish. It's only when we get to three tracks from the end that "Too Young To Understand" showcases her talent for writing a decent ballad with just a piano accompaniment. Disappointing.