Freya Ridings, Dido, Molly Tuttle, Nerina Pallot and Jenny Lewis

The last time I posted music reviews was back in August 2018. These are the latest albums in my collection.

The first album released by Freya Ridings ("Live at Omeara") was recorded at this music venue at London Bridge. Full of good songs with Freya playing keyboard and a small band. "Lost Without You" is the stand out track, as are all her ballads such as "You Mean The World To Me". The best of the up tempo songs is "Castles".

Freya's new self titled studio album contains most of the songs from her live album, so I just downloaded the four brand new tracks. The ballads, again, are great with "Still Have You" her best to date.

"Still on my Mind" is not the best of Dido's albums but still worth a listen. "Give You Up" and "Some Kind of Love" are typical Dido although most of the other tracks are a mixed bag.

As I said on my previous post about "When You're Ready",  I only came across Molly when this, her first full album was reviewed in The Sunday Times:   

Molly Tuttle is already a phenomenon: she was the first woman to be named guitar player of the year by The International Bluegrass Association then won the award for the second time. But while purists drool over her technique, this debut will introduce her to a wider audience as a singer-songwriter. Take the Journey echoes kd lang, Million Miles calls to mind Laura Viers and Make My Mind Up and Messed With My Mind are superior soft rock. Alison Krauss-style crossover success looks assured. 

The songs described in the article are some of the best on the album, but I prefer "When You're Ready" and "Don't Let Go".

Molly's first release "Rise" was a seven song album where the first song "Good Enough" showcases her guitar virtuosity. Indeed, on all the tracks, Molly's acoustic guitar is at the forefront. My favourite is "You Didn't Call My Name".

The latest in my collection of Nerina Pallot albums is "Stay Lucky". She played quite a few from this album at her live show. The best tracks are the outstanding "Juno", "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" and "All Gold". After her solo performance, it was strange listening to these with her band.

I reviewed Jenny Lewis's album  "Voyager" back in 2015. "On the Line" is her latest recording. No stand out tracks but overall marginally better than that previous album. A little too poppy in places, but a reasonable set of songs.