CD Odyssey Disc 1183: I'm With Her

I had a busy day of work and then a bit of volunteer work after that. I’m feeling a bit knackered but not so knackered to share my love of music.

Disc 1183 is… See You Around

Artist: I’m With Her

Year of Release: 2018

What’s up with the Cover? I’m With Her chill out in someone’s backyard. These ladies are pale so I hope they remembered to wear sunscreen.

How I Came To Know It: In a circuitous route. A couple years ago I was investigating folk artist Aoife O’Donovan. I didn’t buy any of her stuff, but along the way I discovered Sarah Jarosz. I bought three of her albums, all of which I have since reviewed.

I’m With Her is a collaboration of O’Donovan, Jarosz and Sara Watkins, so with two of three artists already familiar to me I took the plunge.

How It Stacks Up:  This is I’m With Her’s first album, so it can’t really stack up.

Ratings: 3 stars

All hail the next supergroup! No, not Them Crooked Vultures – the other one. No, not Hollywood Vampires – a little less well known than that. Nope, not Run the Jewels – a bit lesser known. The Both? A little lower…

OK, so I’m With Her is not the most commercially successful supergroup, but they are a supergroup to me. Folk musicians Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins may not deliver the same legions of Youtube hits of some other bands, but these three women are each amazing musicians in their own right all the same.

I’m With Her brings their collective talents together and for the most part the experiment is a success. Each one of these women is an amazing vocalist, and their voices are complementary, whether they are taking turns on lead vocals or blending together to create sweet bluegrass-inspired harmonies.

It also bears noting what prodigious musical talents they are. Watkins plays fiddle, ukulele and guitar; O’Donovan plays guitar and piano.  As for Sarah Jarosz, she is one of the finest mandolin players you will ever hear, and I mean ever. Jarosz is also brilliant on banjo, guitar and something called the “Mandoguitar”. I don’t know what a Mandoguitar is, but I know I know I want to pronounce it like I am Otto the bus driver from the Simpsons – “Mandooohhguitar!”

Jarosz is my favourite of the three artists both vocally and because of her mad mandolin skills, but they are all brilliant. They wisely keep the mix nice and even-tempered, letting your ear slide from one instrument to another with relative ease, as the mood moves you.

In terms of style, this music is all folk all the time. Don’t come to this album looking for pop hooks and production tricks. “See You Around” is an album for people who appreciate simple playing done at a high level, and while the ladies have many clever new takes on old forms and contemporary folk elements, this is very much a record grounded in tradition.

The record opens with “See You Around” which has some subtle organ sounds and some of the pretties guitar picking you’ll ever hear (there is plenty of this). The lyrics on “See You Around” aren’t metaphorically creative – wine stained glasses hold drinks, and hearts are enclosed in skin. It is all very literal, but the song has a lilting melody that draws you in and when the harmonies hit on the chorus it is a slice of layer-cake heaven.

“Overland” is my favourite song on the album. Going in, I knew I’m With Her had covered a Gillian Welch song and my ear was on the lookout for it. “Overland” was so good it was my first guess, and when I realized that wasn’t it I assumed it was a traditional tune. It just seemed too good – too perfectly timeless – to have been written a few months ago. Turns out I was wrong – it isn’t an old classic, it is a new one.

The Welch song was “Hundred Miles” also good – and with some fancy fiddle playing – but no “Overland”.

I also love “Close It Down” which is a song about unrequited love, where the unrequited nature of the love is…complicated. The song is filled with harmless flirting which you can tell isn’t harmless and a story that is only partially told. I’m With Her lets you fill in the blanks, and while you can hear the song from many angles every one will be filled with yearning and unfulfilled desire.

Also, a small shout out to “Pangaea” which isn’t one of my favourites, but has a little section which goes “you think that you need me/but you don’t need me” in a melody that makes you immediately think of Leonard Cohen singing “I need you/I don’t need you” on “Chelsea Hotel No. 2”. I could be reading too much into this, but I think it’s deliberate. If I ever meet them I’ll ask but for now it’s a pleasant thought.

The album is far from perfect, and there are some songs that feel a bit all over the place, or where the effort to create new progressions makes the music less catchy than it could be. The lyrics are uneven: sometimes plain and beautiful, sometimes just plain.

My first two listens through I was even seriously planning on parting company with the record, because at times it felt a bit too much like songwriting by committee and overwrought (a common supergroup problem by the way). However, once my ears adjusted to the combination of tradition and experiment I realized what a secret treasure I had on my hands and got to work making space on the shelf.

Best tracks: See You Around, Ain’t That Fine, Wild One, Overland, Close it Down