Rating: 5/5
Review:
A terrific album
Painting Blue is a terrific album, I think. I have enjoyed a lot of
Amy LaVere’s work in the past and this is probably her best to
date.
It is, as always,
full of personal songs with excellent, intelligent lyrics and fine
music. No Room For Baby, for example, is lyrically heart-rending and
musically just great. There are also a couple of outstanding covers
in John Martyn’s Don’t Want To Know and Robert Wyatt’s
Shipbuilding, both of which stand very well beside the excellent
originals.
Amy’s voice is
wonderful; she has a slightly breathy soprano and a technique where
she often slides onto a note rather than hitting it directly, which
lends every song a distinct and engaging sound. She is also a very
good bassist and combined with the fine band and excellent
production, the album sounds really good throughout.
Amy LaVere is very
highly regarded by critics and fellow singer-songwriters but is far
less well known than she deserves. If you like a classy bit of
Americana from a really good artist, you’ll like this – a lot, I
suspect. Very warmly recommended.
