CD Odyssey Disc 1958: Katy Kirby

Blue Raspberry is one of my favourite “drink” flavours but I always feel that raspberry gets short-changed on the use of red, which is reserved for strawberry (light red) and cherry (dark red). This record has very little to do with drink flavours, but I just had to get that off my chest.

Disc 1958 is…Blue Raspberry

Artist: Katy Kirby

Year of Release: 2024

What’s up with the Cover? Katy (assuming the brunette is Katy) and another person engage in some sort of embrace. Maybe they’re wrestling, maybe Katy is rescuing them from drowning or maybe it is a more amorous adventure. Whether it is sport, a rescue or sex, based on the sun-dappled water it looks like the weather is cooperating. Way easier to do all those things when the waves aren’t too big.

How I Came To Know It: I was already a fan of Kirby having encountered her through her 2021 debut, “Cool Dry Place” (reviewed back at Disc 1726). When I saw she had a new album out a couple of years ago I checked it out and liked what I heard.

How It Stacks Up: Kirby only has two full length records, and if you’re following along you’ll know that I have both of them. Of the two I enjoyed “Blue Raspberry” slightly more, so it is…#1.

Ratings: 4 stars

Katy Kirby has a languid style to her brand of indie pop that leaves you feeling relaxed and ready to see the world in a fresh and unhurried way. This is a record to both relax you musically, while throwing in just enough unexpected imagery that your mind is active and searching for the next line. Also, it’s very sexy.

Kirby’s high sweet vocals shows a lot of range in songs that are all sweet and introspective, but surprisingly variable in how they approach a melody. This record keeps your groove engaged throughout,

The opening track, “Redemption Arc” is even a bit off-brand, sung in her lower register, with a lurching minor key lilt that had me favourably comparing the approach to “Bachelor No. 2” era Aimee Mann. Unlike early Mann, Kirby is a bit more romantic than fatalist, and “Redemption Arc” is an apology song that is more focused on the comfort of making up than the apology itself. You get the sense that all is forgiven without any words spoken, but the words are welcomed all the same.

The record launches into Kirby’s more familiar high head voice on “Cubic Zirconia” which also oozes with a relaxed romanticism that permeates the record. Not content to rely on the record’s catchiest melody and a delightful birdsong phrasing, Kirby throws in some top-tier imagery. Best stanza:

“Face framed by hoodie like an oyster in a shell
And your eyes are rolling at me as a pair of angry pearls
You're the prettiest mermaid in the souvenir shop
But if you're coming home this late
You know you'd better be drunk”

Not something typically wished for, but there is a strong current of sexy that flows through this record that makes even a drunken homecoming feel like a fairy tale. Readers please note: this outcome is rarely the case and only works for the absolutely prettiest mermaids. If you're a merman, just forget about it entirely. Take off your shoes quietly in the hall and sleep on the couch.

But I digress.

“Wait Listen” has a song construction that is reminiscent of Leonard Cohen, both in terms of how the song builds the story as well as the mix of the tender and the bawdy poetry of a memorable hook up.

That ribbon of lyrical sexuality twists like a ribbon through the entirety of “Blue Raspberry” taking a record that could fall into its own introspection and instead making each song a sensual confession.

Kirby re-examines imagery used in earlier songs throughout the record, trying concepts out from different angles like the facets of the fake diamonds she references early on. She will return to the image of the cubic zirconia on “Salt Crystal” along with pearls (now in the mouth not the eyes), and the erotic nature of a well-placed bite (earlier featured in the amorous adventures of “Wait Listen”). Then, as your mind skips along with the sweetness of the melody, Kirby pulls it all together in a golden hour moment with:

“The rhinestones on your baseball cap reminding me of when
The salt left crystal on the sunset of your sunburned skin”

The best part of it all is that with its slow and relaxed style, this clever construction of image upon image slips into your mind slowly, like a cool summer breeze through an open window – invisible but alive on your skin.

Some albums hit you hard and early, but “Blue Raspberry” is a slow build that steals inside of you with a quiet beauty. It might take a few listens to catch everything that’s going on, but it’s worth the effort.

Best tracks: Redemption Arc, Cubic Zirconia, Wait Listen, Salt Crystal

CD Odyssey Disc 1954: The Watson Twins

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey where today we take a second dig into recently released Americana.

Disc 1954 is…Holler

Artist: The Watson Twins

Year of Release: 2023

What’s up with the Cover? Sisters Chandra and Leigh (aka the Watson Twins) strike a pose in front of a brick wall. Or possibly this is Leigh and Chandra. I can’t tell. They’re twins.

How I Came To Know It: I learned about the Watson Twins through their collaboration with Jenny Lewis on her debut album Rabbit Fur Coat in 2006 (which I’ve owned for almost twenty years but surprisingly have not rolled to review).

That record got me heavily into Jenny Lewis (and from there, Rilo Kiley) but I never paid the Watson Twins much mind. I bought one of their records in 2010 but it wasn’t until a few years back that I explored their discography in earnest.

That occurred because the local record store had a bunch of their records used and reasonably priced, and so I decided to see how they’d fared over all those years. Turns out there were a couple more good enough to buy, and “Holler” was one of ‘em.

How It Stacks Up: The Watson Twins have released six full length LPs, but I only have three. Of those three, I put “Holler” in at third (or last, if you are being pessimistic).

Ratings: 2 stars

There’s something about twins singing harmony that always sounds special, and the Watson Twins are no exception. While this gives this record a leg up overall the potential was never fully realized in the way I’d hoped.

With that ominous lede and those two stars hanging tarnished in the “ratings” category, you might be eagerly anticipating a whole lot of nasty in this review. If so, you’ll be disappointed. Overall, I enjoyed “Holler” which is a mainstream run at indie country/Americana performed with talent and care.

The vocals on the record have the aforementioned “twin” advantage, and both Watsons together have a rich tone and a talent for phrasing. There is very little solo singing on the record, and even where one sister is leading, there is heavy support. This is a team effort. I could’ve used a little more variation to the way they approached each song vocally, but it is a minor quibble.

They sound best on “Hundred Miles”, where the ladies benefit from a lilting melody, and yet another depiction of the dream of Nashville, deflected. In this case 100 miles in the wrong direction to a town called Crossville. I looked it up and sure enough, Crossville TN is a place – about 12,000 people strong. Likely a fine enough town, but less so if you are dreaming of the bright lights of Nashville like the song’s narrator.

In any event, the song showcases the Watson Twins’ vocals, which do not feature big range or power, but are surprisingly sweet for such a sad song.

“Hundred Miles” is a good song, but it also illustrates that for much of the record I found the vocals float a bit too much mid-range, in songs with workmanlike compositions that just don’t reach in and grab you like art should. The stereo hum of the two-part harmonies are soothing at first, but over the course of the record they left me wanting more, either in terms of a third voice, more solo work, or maybe just songs with more movement in their structure.

But let’s be positive again. I also liked “The Palace” which is a barroom anthem about the local watering hole. Lyrics like:

“Another night at The Palace
Pour me a double in the chalice
If you won't be my king, I'll wear the crown
This watering hole my home
This barstool is my throne
If we ain't making up, I'll throw 'em down”

Feel heavily inspired by the more famous “Queen of the Silver Dollar” of Dr. Hook or Emmylou Harris (depending on your preferred version) which begins with a similar:

“She's the queen of the Silver Dollar
And she rules this smoky kingdom
And her sceptre is a wineglass
And a barstool is her throne”

I like how “The Palace” puts an interesting twist on what is essentially the same scene, but from the queen’s perspective, not the viewers. Through her narrative we learn she’s out on the town because she’s angry with her no-good cheat of a boyfriend. At the Silver Dollar, the jesters flock around their queen and fight to win her favour. At the Palace, you know that any success they achieve is as much an expression of her vengeance as her interest.

“The Palace” and “Hundred Miles” are my two favourites, one for the storyline and one for the melody. There are other good tunes, including the title track, which is clearly intended to be an opening banger, but they didn’t cut quite so deep.

Not helping is very flat production across the record, which makes things sound distant and fuzzy on songs that would benefit from a bit more separation. There is a distinct alt-rock sound thrown into the arrangements but the songs are country tunes down in their bones, and the two vibes don’t always gel as intended.

There’s nothing on “Holler” that straight up irritated me, but there were just too few moments where I wanted to..er…holler. For this reason, I’m going to bid this record a fond farewell from my collection and wish it well in finding a better match than with me.

Best tracks: The Palace, Hundred Miles

CD Odyssey Disc 1947: The Head and the Heart

I usually review an album on Saturday but I’m getting an early start on this one so that I can remove it from my car, my MP3 player, and my life.

Disc 1947 is…Aperture

Artist: The Head and the Heart

Year of Release: 2025

What’s up with the Cover? Indistinct silhouettes in the fading light. This cover has very little to recommend it, which is not unlike my experience with this record.

How I Came To Know It: I first heard Head and the Heart in 2010 when they released their eponymous debut. I liked that record quite a bit, and over the years it’s afterglow has caused me to give their new releases a chance. Sometimes I like them, more often I don’t. I gave “Aperture” half a listen to and figured was good enough to buy.

How It Stacks Up: The Head and the Heart have six studio albums and I own three of them. Of those three, “Aperture” comes in at #3.

Ratings: 2 stars

“Aperture” is a perfectly pleasant 45 minutes of your life, as long as you don’t expect too much and don’t listen too hard. Since that’s not at all how I approach music, my experience was somewhere south of pleasant.

It’s my own fault. I explore a lot of new music in a year, and while an album gets my full and undivided attention when I review it, my first listen can sometimes find me distracted, with the music a bit in the background, as I wait for it to grab my attention. “Aperture” never grabbed my attention, but it felt consistently OK, and I figured it would grow on me.

Instead, this record revealed itself to be a surface beauty only. That girl at the bar that at a glance you want to talk to until you, you know, actually talk to her.

The record is easy early, with vocals that have a lovely tone that is smooth and rich, with production to match. However, it is all a bit too produced – too much smooth and not enough rich. The effect feels a bit “singing competition” for me, losing much of the edge of their 2010 release. They are without one of the cofounders these days (Josiah Johnson). This could be part of the challenge, but having only dabbled off and on with the Head and the Heart over the years, I don’t feel sufficiently informed to say.

Beyond this, there were two things that set me off in the wrong direction: the structure of the songs and the lyrics. Those are two pretty big things, and no amount of smooth production or silky vocals was going to fix it.

First, the song structures, which have lost the band’s indie creativity and just feel like any generic song you’re likely to hear on pop radio. It took me to a bad headspace of being out later in the evening at a music festival, where some “next new thing” band has drunken concert goers chanting along to deliberately constructed “singalong” chorus moments. And not the good “Frank Turner” singalong that draws you out with poetic inspiration, but more the manipulative kind based on a catchy rhythm and little else.

I like festivals, but that moment where the experience switches from being about the music and becomes about being there and taking photos of yourself to prove it (usually around 7-8 p.m.) is my least favourite window. It just feels like the soul of the show empties out, and realizing my feet hurt and, unable to face another Sunday evening port-a-potty, I turn and go. Behind me I imagine some stock anthem pop to keep the masses entertained and drinking, but before the headliner takes the stage. That’s this record.

The lyrics were my other challenge, with song after song being a cobbling together of cliché imagery and generalities. Probably lots of music I like has this problem, but all I can say is here is where I noticed it. “Nothing left to lose”, “someone’s gonna break your heart again/that’s just proof that you’re alive”, “I’m gonna tell you straight from the heart” and on it goes.

Not the only place you’ll encounter these shortcuts but combined with very “by the book” music you get the impression of a band taking exactly zero artistic chances. By the time the final song (“Aperture”) sang out these fateful lines:

“You get tired of hearing “it is what it is”
You’ll never rise above it”

I was thinking my own cliché in response – ‘I couldn’t agree more’.

There are bright spots here and there. The songs may be unimaginative but they’re not jarring or outright terrible. “Cop Car” is a little gem of a tune about getting arrested that captures some of the band’s early magic.

But there aren’t enough of these moments and mostly I was bored, and ready to leave early. And so here’s a Friday evening review where I’m doing just that.

Best tracks: Beg Steal or Borrow, Cop Car

CD Odyssey Disc 1942: Miya Folick

Welcome back, readers. This past weekend I spent my Sunday at the Vancouver Folk Festival which was a delightful musical journey enjoyed in the company of good friends. Plus thousands of people I didn’t know, of course.

The highlight of the show was Anna Tivel, who I heartily recommend to any lovers of folk music out there. Great live, with a lyrical storytelling quality that exists both within her music and the stories she tells in between.

It was also great to see Ken Pomeroy (for the first time) and Tami Nielson (for the second) and just generally enjoy a day of music and companionship.

On to the review…

Disc 1942 is…Erotica Veronica

Artist: Miya Folick

Year of Release: 2025

What’s up with the Cover? A dirt-covered Miya Folick, dressed only in her underwear, strikes an awkward pose.

Is this the morning after a bad night out, or has Folick dug her way out of some shallow grave?

Either way, she seems to be emerging from some kind of harrowing experience and I hope she’s OK. Unless she’s a zombie. Then it isn’t that I don’t wish that she’s OK, but I will just do so at a distance. Safety first!

How I Came To Know It: I became a fan in 2018 when I heard her “Premonitions” record and I’ve been a fan since. This was just me buying her latest release.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Miya Folick records, and of those three one must be last. That one is “Erotica Veronica”.

As this is the final (for now) Miya Folick record currently in my collection, here’s a recap:

1. ROACH: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1687)
2. Premonitions: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1608)
3. Erotica Veronica: 3 stars (reviewed right here)

Ratings: 3 stars

Folick writes thoughtful indie pop music, in a genre that is sort of a slow-jam low key lounge kind of style. It isn’t a style that typically catches my attention but her songwriting is top notch and her melodies are both catchy and unexpected.

Her third record, “Erotica Veronica,” is all those things, although the overall quality of the songs here are a step down from her previous two efforts. Not bad by any stretch, but less powerful overall.

Folick’s vocals remain strong, and she has a whisper to her voice that augments the sweetness of her pop delivery, without overwhelming it. That bit of whisper is what gives all her songs – even the ones I liked less – a magnetic quality as she pushes and pulls you through various emotional states, often within a single song.

The record begins with “Erotica”, which has a twee sort of fairytale quality to it, setting a dreamy tone that echoes through the record. This song is deeply romantic overall, but there’s a distance to it (maybe it’s the echo in the production) that made me feel slightly distant from the vibe Folick is trying to establish.

Arrangement-wise, the record is standard pop fare, with guitar, piano and some string flourishes where called for. There is one unfortunate moment of extended jazz flute on “Felicity” that I could live without, but otherwise I had no serious complaint.

There is also a lean into the drum machine in a couple places (notably, again, on “Felicity”) where I would have preferred a more organic touch. However, that is a part of the soundscape of “Erotica Veronica” and I realized if I spent too much time second guessing the guy on the keyboard/synth I’d be missing out on a lot of thoughtful music.

“Fist” was more my speed, and I’m sure the “good ole regular” guitar strum didn’t hurt in this regard. I also like the way this song can shift from a skip-in-the-step sprung phrasing, combined with long sweeping flourishes that naturally flow into a flourish that feels a bit like ocean waves crashing into the shore. Folick songs like “Fist” go through a lot of movements in the short time available to a pop song.

While the record is solidly indie pop there are undertones of smooth R&B at work. This creates a tension with the folksy narrative quality of the lyrics, like a dance song that never quite lifts you past sway-mode. There’s nothing wrong with sway-mode but living in that crossover area of styles can be both innovative and dangerous. It isn’t that Folick falters while navigating that tricky space, but most songs lacked the edge of previous work. The intense yearning and vulnerability in her voice still won me over, but I admit some of that yearning was an echo from her previous efforts.

And for this reason, despite the favourable three-star rating, and no serious criticism (other than the one bit of jazz flute), I was left wanting just a little more.

Best tracks: Fist, This Time Around, Prism of Light

CD Odyssey Disc 1926: Clem Snide

I was a bit nervous about squeezing in two reviews this week with a late start after a long weekend. Fortunately, fate intervened with that shortest of listens…an EP. More on this later.

Disc 1926 is…A Beautiful EP

Artist: Clem Snide

Year of Release: 2003

What’s up with the Cover? A woman lifts her skirt in a playful but modest manner. Perhaps she’s dancing, or maybe just showing off her fancy shoes in anticipation of dancing.

How I Came To Know It: I have been a fan of Clem Snide since 2020 when they released “Forever Just Beyond”, but to my chagrin realized they’d already been around twenty years before I ever “discovered” them.

Even worse, a lot of their early albums which I now covet are very hard to find, and as a result I have lurked the “miscellaneous C” section of local record stores for years hoping for a score.

I’ve managed to land two more through this hunt and peck strategy (1999’s “Your Favourite Music” and 2009’s “Hungry Bird”) but five more LPs still elude me.

So when I saw this EP there I decided to buy it even though it wasn’t on my wish-list, all the while hoping it would overcome the EP curse.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Clem Snide albums, but this is an EP and therefore a different animal. As it is my only EP by the band, it cannot stack up.

Ratings: 2 stars

Not long after I got through my second of many listens of “A Beautiful EP” I realized two things. First, that it is objectively a solid record by a band I enjoy. Second, that much of what constitutes an EP tends to annoy me.

EPs can be great, but they are often dodgy by their very nature. They usually have half or fewer the number of songs from an LP, but they’re rarely half the price. Those songs tend to take a few well-worn turns best left unexplored, and “A Beautiful EP” is no exception.

First off, EPs love their cover songs. Sometimes you can get some real gems in the process – things the band might not put on a full record because it doesn’t suit the vibe or theme, but can work on an EP. Ghost covering the Eurythmics “Missionary Man” or Soundgarden doing the Ohio Players’ “Fopp” are two great examples. Bonus points if the band later combines a couple EPs into an album you can buy as a full length (as Soundgarden did this on “Screaming Life/Fopp”).

Clem Snide goes for a cover of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” which is…solid. It isn’t as good as the Ghost and Soundgarden songs I noted above, but I don’t like the original as much, so it had less to work with. Anyway, I liked it, and Clem Snide indie pop it up with solid success. Lead singer Eef Barzelay can’t hold a candle to Aguilera’s vocal gymnastics, but he doesn’t go for that, sticking to a punk adjacent approach that lacks depth, but retains enough edge to see it through.

The band also does a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “I’ll Be Your Mirror” which is, again, passable but not a “must have” by any stretch. I prefer the original, as the cover drags just a bit.

EPs also like to recycle old songs with very similar new versions. Again, “A Beautiful EP” has two of these. “Nick Drake Tape” from their 1998 debut and “All Green” from “Soft Spot” (released earlier the same year). Argh. Both songs are OK, but knowing they’re recycled from earlier records is irritating. Despite it being many years later, I felt the echo of irritation of hard core fans having to buy these songs twice just to get the two covers.

This leaves us with only a single song that is 100% new and original material – “Mike Kalinsky” at Track 3. This song, about a high school outcast who doesn’t “do sports”, or score with girls but later goes on to be a successful musician is fine as narrative arcs go. However, the switch in styles from the slow folk pop of the main tune into a – surprise! – jump to Kalinsky’s punk rock styling at the end wore thin after multiple listens (which with an 18-minute EP you are going to get plenty of).

For all this, there aren’t any terrible songs on the record, and absent Aguilera’s powerhouse vocals I realized that “Beautiful” is a much stronger song structurally than I had ever given it credit for as a pop ballad. “All Green” is a lovely pastoral tune that makes you think of lazy summer days and iced tea.

But at the end of the day, I don’t need a bunch of re-releases, live versions and covers. If I wanted that experience, I’d buy a boxed set. So I’m going to part company with this record and do what I should have done in the first place: wait for the LPs that are actually on my list to show up in the record store and buy those instead.

Best tracks: Beautiful, All Green

CD Odyssey Disc 1903: Courtney Marie Andrews

The streak of albums alternating between obscure metal and indie folk/country is now up to six.

How does that happen, you ask? It’s random. Identifying a pattern is just a thing that makes your brain feel better, and maybe generate a little small talk in the teaser section.

Disc 1903 is… Old Flowers

Artist: Courtney Marie Andrews

Year of Release: 2020

What’s up with the Cover? Courtney looks cold in this picture, and maybe a little miffed. Like the photographer has taken her out to the foothills and over several hours had her pose, trying to get the perfect shot.

So much time has gone by that it’s now dark, and so she’s just said “fine – the next one is it, and let’s go back to town!” as the photographer futzes with some lighting equipment he’s haphazardly pulled out of the back of the Jeep.

Alternative viewers may see a different tale. Perhaps Courtney and her partner have earlier murdered a hitchhiker on a lonely stretch of road. All the hitchhiker had was $23 in loose bills and an iPhone 6 with no minutes on it, and Courtney is pretty upset with the take, not leastwise because she only got $11 of it.

They’ve been digging a grave just off the road since the late afternoon and it has fallen dark. Courtney thinks the hole is deep enough given the isolated location. Her partner has insisted going down a couple more feet just to be sure the coyotes don’t dig him up.

In both scenarios Courtney is cold and would like to go back to town but doing it right – whether it’s a photo shoot or a murder scene – takes time.

How I Came To Know It: I’ve been a fan of Courtney Marie Andrews since she released her 2016 masterpiece, “An Honest Life” (see review back at Disc 1081). When she releases a new album I tend to buy it, and that’s what’s happened here.

How It Stacks Up: I have six Courtney Marie Andrews albums (I just picked up her 2026 record, “Valentine” this weekend). “Old Flowers” ranks at #2.

Ratings: 4 stars

The worst thing about Courtney Marie Andrews’ voice is that you can only experience it for the first time once. “Old Flowers” was my fourth album by her, and that ship had long sailed. However, even after many years and many albums, there is still no way to fully prepare to hear her sing. Each and every time it is revelatory.

After a bit of extra production on “May Your Kindness Remain” “Old Flowers” has a sound closer to “An Honest Life” and this is a good thing. The songs are simple and sparsely arranged, and perfect vehicles for delivering Andrew’s vocals. Soft and sweet, with a controlled quaver and hurt for days, Andrews has a voice that makes you stop what you are doing, turn your ears to the stereo in a slow and deliberate way and fall forward into the experience.

At its heart, the secret is vulnerability. Andrews sings like she’s experiencing heartbreak for the first time. The miracle is that somehow this wholly committed emotional journey has a wisdom in it you would associate with someone much older. She’s a reminder that when life isn’t a thing that washes over you, its something you immerse yourself in – become part of – and that’s a good thing.

The album is aptly named, with the imagery of flowers featuring on many tracks. “Burlap String” starts the record off, situating us in a small west coast town with a moseying country-styled guitar strum. Like a lot of Andrews’ songs, this one is the end of a relationship. It’s a song of reconciliation, though, as she muses:

“If I could go back now
I'd pick you wildflowers
Tie 'em in burlap string
Tell you what you mean to me”

It’s not a rekindling of the relationship – that’s over –it’s regret of the missed opportunities to express love when it was new and fresh.

Fast forward to the title track, and the theme has shifted, but the flowers have remained. The wistful guitar strum is replaced with the purposeful rhythm of heavy piano chords and snare drum. This one is a slow and sorrowful march. The refrain “you can’t water old flowers” reflects the other side of a neglected and unkind relationship which is over. “Burlap String” has a kindness to it. “Old Flowers” isn’t cruel, but it is resolute. It is bags-packed and walking out the door feeling good about something for the first time in years.

These are just two songs, and while you won’t find flowers featuring in every song, you will find a bouquet of hurt and wisdom at every turn. Andrews has a generational voice, and she deploys it with an easy grace. Listening pulls you into yourself, pushes you into the innermost places where your guard is down, and shows you the beauty you’ve been hiding from yourself in there.

“Old Flowers” came out in July 2020, at a time when most of us were locked in our houses, the pandemic deepening, and wondering what would come next. Andrews’ answer is simple – we’ll never know what comes next, or what cruel or capricious turns await us on life’s road, but one thing we do know – there’s always love.

Best tracks: Burlap String, Guilty, If I Told, Old Flowers, Break the Spell, How You Get Hurt

CD Odyssey Disc 1899: Bella White

I usually get two or three playthroughs of a record before I review it, but fate conspired this week to keep this album in my car longer than usual. By the eighth or ninth consecutive listen there was no question whether I liked it or I didn’t. Verdict: I did.

Disc 1899 is… Among Other Things

Artist: Bella White

Year of Release: 2023

What’s up with the Cover? Bella has fallen backwards in her deck chair. Often falling backwards in your deck chair is a moment of hilarity for all concerned, but in this case it looks to be more of a romantic swoon.

How I Came To Know It: I read a review on Americana Highways and thought she sounded pretty good. Good enough to go find the record, in fact.

How It Stacks Up: I have both of the albums that Bella White has released so far. “Among Other Things” is the better one, so #1.

Ratings: 4 stars

I woke up today feeling my age, my back out of alignment, and cankers lining my mouth screaming in rage whenever I dared to eat or drink or speak. I admit my soul was tired too.

Fortunately, I’ve had just the right soundtrack for the moment. Bella White’s twangy folk/country mix is just the tonic for the world-weary. Not because it provides a balm, but because it reminds you that it is OK to feel the feels and encourages you to do some thinkin’ while you’re down there.

Putting on “Amongst Other Things” is a lot like stepping to a too-hot bath; at first a shock to the system, and then relaxing and meditative as you sink into it. White’s vocals are bright and penetrative and jump out at you with a burst of energy like she’s breaking the tension of silence over and over again.

Sounds painful, but it is quite the opposite. Her voice helps the stories she tells penetrate in deep, thoughtful thrusts that heal, rather than hurt. Kind of like the musical equivalent of acupuncture (I could use some of that today…).

White is also a talented guitarist, and her playing is similar to her singing, with deliberate and sometimes heavy picking in a bluegrass style that aligns well with her vocals, taking a back seat, but providing mood and structure back there.

The way she arranges the two instruments together was intriguing, with her vocals having short bursts that often alternate with the guitar, making her voice feel almost a capella in places, and lending itself to very creative phrasing choices that make the songs feel conversational, and full of asides. The effect pulls you in and helps to find the soft and caring content under the sometimes sharp peal of her delivery.

The songs are full of heartache, and a restless wandering quality. Many are about transition and change whether in a shifting or broken relationship, or the broader “what next” we all feel when we’re young. White is young (she made this record when she was 23) but you don’t have to be young to get it – that restless feeling sits inside all of us, all the time. Sometimes we need to access it - not necessarily to wander, but just to remember what it feels like. It’s therapeutic.

Alternating with the folksier tunes are those that fall into line with more traditional country arrangements. Overall I like these ones slightly less, but they are critical to the record (especially if listened to multiple times in succession), offering a different aspect to White’s voice and songwriting.

The record is chock full of great stories, but my two favourites are “Marilyn” and “Rhododendron” (not to be confused with the Hurray for the Riff Raff song of the same name).

“Marilyn” is a character study of a horrible sexist POS character, seen through the titular victim of his casual and not-so-casual cruelty. This song’s walkdowns and minor notes are perfectly matched to White’s mournful warble as she reminds us that out in the world there are women like Marilyn, enduring shitheads in silence behind the closed doors we drive by every day.

The other stand-out is “Rhododendron”, which meets the other main album theme – the inner exploration of the restless soul. The opening two stanzas are sublime – I reprint them here. Note the restless uncertainty created by putting the active verb at the end of the line. Cool, and three times more impactful when delivered by White’s exceptional vocal:

“As I look out my window, all I can see
Is a bush of rhododendron flowers staring back at me
And a mama robin, she is always working
Bringing worms and bugs to feed her young
While the snakes and house cats are lurking”

“All this time I've spent inside my head
Well, I've been hurting, Is the world still turning?
For this weight I bare leaves me so damn scared
I guess we've all been hurting like a little bird I'm learning”

Ever spent an afternoon looking out at the world thinking deep thoughts and feeling the feels (you know you have). Well, this song is for you. You’re not alone – get up, stretch the stiffness out of your neck, and get back to it.

I’m off to take Bella’s advice, and I wish you a pleasant and thoughtful journey, full of cares or free of them, as the day finds you.

Best tracks: Flowers on My Bedside, Marilyn, Rhododendron, The Best of Me, Among Other Things

CD Odyssey Disc 1895: Caroline Rose

It’s been seven and a half years since I reviewed this next artist. I haven’t been avoiding her, it’s just the result of having a large music collection and going through it in random order.

Disc 1895 is… I Will Not Be Afraid

Artist: Caroline Rose

Year of Release: 2014

What’s up with the Cover? Looks like someone’s been playing with those odd shapes in the Spirograph kit.

When I was a kid the “odd shaped” Spirograph pieces were part of the new and improved modernized Spirograph. No longer just circles, you got a football shape, a curvy triangle and an “X” as well as an “extra arm”. Yeah, Spirograph…plus!

If you know what I’m talking about you are probably of a certain age (or you clicked on that link). If you don’t know what I’m talking about you would probably prefer I talk about this record. OK, fine.

How I Came To Know It: I first heard about Caroline Rose through this record and I’ve been a fan ever since. Problem is, I don’t remember how I discovered this record. In my defence, that was twelve years – and a lot of records – in my past. I have a recollection of a stop-motion animation video for “Blood on Your Bootheels” but you think I could find it on Youtube? Reader, I could not.

A deeper Google search suggested the video was made with stop-motion Skittles so maybe it was a copyright thing. Too bad – it was a cool video…but the music’s what matters, and I’ve got that.

How It Stacks Up: I have four of Caroline Rose’s six studio albums (I still haven’t found 2012’s “America Religious” and I haven’t gotten around to buying 2025’s “Year of the Slug”). Of the four I do have, I put “I Will Not Be Afraid” in at #2. I originally had reserved top spot for it, but looking back I think 2018’s “Loner” (reviewed at Disc 1181) is top dog.

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

As an artist Caroline Rose does what she wants how she wants. This creates a lot of different albums, and some may appeal to you more than others. I expect she is fine with that. “I Will Not Be Afraid” is relatively early in her career, and that “do what I want” vibe is in full flight. It is mostly welcome, generating a lot of different styles and approaches to her music. There are occasions where it gets a bit unfocused as a result, but I don’t mind, and Rose wouldn’t care if I did.

You’ll find pop, country, rockabilly and folk elements all mixed in on “I Will Not Be Afraid”, as Rose tries on different ways to deliver her message with the thoughtful artistry of a veteran shopper in a vintage store.

The record opens with “Blood On Your Bootheels”. This was the song that introduced me to Rose, and over a decade later it holds up well. It features a heavy and infectious bass line, mixing rockabilly beat with a Vaudeville vibe and a rapid-fire spoken-word delivery. The song has a lot of social commentary, but you may miss it on the first go around. First, because Rose’s delivery is lightning-fast, and second because the song is so catchy you as just as likely to dance around with the energy of it all, rather than playing the critic. I enjoy it both ways.

She follows this up with one of the more country songs on the record, “Tightrope Walker”. Here she sings in a stye reminiscent of Lone Justice’s Maria McKee, with a bit less twang and a bit more soul. Never content with a single genre, you’ll get a circus-style organ mixed in just in case the song might get too country.

And on you’ll go in this way through this delightful record, as Rose stretches her creative wings. It sometimes feels like she has so many ideas and images to express that she’s rushing herself, but it is planned.

Sometimes the style is very evocative of something else you heard (“Red Bikini Waltz” is a straight line to sixties Dylan) but she does it with love - not theft - in mind, and besides, it isn’t like Bob isn’t the only artist to ever sing lines like “But it don’t matter none” in a folksy and wise kind of way. Also, Rose’s exploration of an image and consumer obsessed society would’ve made young Bob proud.

There are times when Rose leads me to a place I don’t love. “At Midnight” is her running her spoken word wisdom through a heavy treatment of the blues. This one didn’t land for me, as I found her singing style a poor match for the approach. I expect each listener to this record will find a song that won’t be “their thing”. This was the one for me.

There aren’t many of those moments though, and I mostly sat in awe of Rose’s ability to navigate a lot of words and never lose emotional connection to the song.

The record ends with the title track. Ironically, this is the most “straight up” country sounding tune on the record, but by this point Rose has unflinchingly established she isn’t afraid to experiment. If anything the straight up approach to this song, full twang ‘n’ jump, is more of a victory lap on a record that stretches to its full length; no regrets, no backsies.

Best tracks: Blood On Your Bootheels, Tightrope Walker, Red Bikini Waltz, Time Spent Money Grow!, I Will Not Be Afraid

CD Odyssey Disc 1893: Okkervil River

With this review, it’ll be three 4-star albums in a row, opening me up to calls of “going soft”. I would remind you that I don’t review random albums, I review albums I’ve decided to buy. This tends to favourably skew the data.

Disc 1892 is… The Stage Names

Artist: Okkervil River

Year of Release: 2007

What’s up with the Cover? A stylized hand emerges from a lake or pond in front of a stylized sunset (sunrise?). Up close, this cover looks like it is coloured thread stitched artfully together to create a picture, which is pretty cool.

Not as cool as some random giant hand reaching out of a magic pond, though.

How I Came To Know It: I had literally forgotten and had to go back to my first Okkervil River review twelve years ago at Disc 575 for a refresher. Turns out, this band was featured in a folk magazine advert. I recall now it was for “I Am Very Far” (released in 2011) and which – strangely – I have still not reviewed.

Random is as random does, friend.

How It Stacks Up: Well, this is a fine pickle. I figured this one would land #2 or #3, but looking back I see I’ve left a place for it at #1. I gave #2 to “The Stand Ins” back at that Disc 575 review. I admit, it was close between them.

I am correcting that now, putting “Stand Ins” at #1, and “Stage Names” at #2. Damn it, maybe I have gone soft…

Ratings: 4 Stars

As you might expect from a record I saved the #1 spot for, “The Stage Names” is a great Okkervil record, and the fact that it had one or two merely “okay” songs than I remembered does not diminish that. Sure it’s #2, but it is a burnished, filigree collection of silver, ornate and complex in its beauty.

If you’re just coming to Okkervil River, they are an indie rock band that features unlikely but seductive melodies that tend to take one or two more turns than you expect but always leave you in the right place.

This musical approach is highly compatible with the lead singer/songwriter Wil Sheff’s and phrasing. Sheff can take freeform poetry and twist it into lyrics that pirouette their way through the song. It feels a bit breathless at times, and is akin to taking one or two in-time dance steps after the music ends. A little awkward, but fully commit to it and…its art.

“The Stage Names” has some of the Sheff’s finest songwriting, starting with the awkwardly titled “Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe”. The imagery in “Our Life…” matches Sheff’s vocal delivery, slightly manic, and jumping from image to another. Best stanza:

“Where the lock that you locked in the suite
Says there's no prying
When the breath that you breathed in the street
Screams there's no science
When you look how you looked then to me
Then I cease lying and fall into silence”

Like most Okkervil River songs, these seemingly disparate images are stitched together like the cover art into something grander, in this case various allusions to film making and how they are like the editing process in a movie. A lot of scenes along the way that we later infuse meaning and purpose into.

When the band is hitting, they are chock-full of these “a-ha” moments that make you feel clever, as though you came up with it. They always walk that line of “too clever by half” but on this record they are on the right side of it a good majority of the time.

My other favourite is “A Girl In Port” a stripped-down tune that is a blend of urban-Gothic and seafaring imagery fused together into a romance that will melt you into a puddle of yearning. Most romances are about a single girl, but this one features many, each filling and emptying our restless narrator’s soul on his travels. There is no ill-will here, and as the chorus makes clear between each encounter:

“Let fall your soft and swaying skirt
Let fall your shoes, let fall your shirt
I'm not the lady-killing sort
Enough to hurt a girl in port”

Where there are some lapses are in the musical experimentation. The music is built to be frantic and aggressive, and it works, but when they descend into sound effects, it could pull me out of the moment right when I was getting acclimated to the spin of it all.

“The Stage Names” is a record that can be beloved by young romantics and English Lit graduates alike (did I just repeat myself?). It also works for pretty much anyone who enjoys a little of the old yearn n’ pine, delivered poetically with a slightly tortured lilt.

Best tracks: Our Life Is Not a Movie Or Maybe, Savannah Smiles, Plus Ones, Girl In Port

CD Odyssey Disc 1892: Katie Gavin

This week my college football team, the University of Miami (aka “The U”) secured their spot in the National Championship game. The ‘Canes haven’t been in the big game since 2003 and haven’t won since 2001, so it is kind of a big deal.

But not for most people reading this, who came here for music not football. Apologies for this indulgence, Gentle Reader. We now return you to regularly scheduled programming.

Disc 1892 is… What a Relief

Artist: Katie Gavin

Year of Release: 2024

What’s up with the Cover? Katie in her bedroom. It is either laundry day or it should be, as the basket’s full, the bed littered with clothes, Katie is clearly out of clean pants at this point, and there’s a bra on the birdcage. That last item is not code or metaphor. There’s literally a bra on the birdcage.

Also…kitty! This cat is doing what every cat traditionally does on laundry day – sitting on the comforter so it is hard to get the sheets in the wash. Good job, kitty!

Less good is Katie’s decision to put the cat’s food dish right beside the aforementioned bird cage. In the NFL this would almost certainly be flagged for taunting. Then again, maybe by doing this Katie is letting the cat know, “hey, no need for budgi-cide, there’s a food source readily available right here that you don’t have to chase first.” Based on my extensive experience with cats, I do not believe this is a winning strategy.

How I Came To Know It: I am a fan of the band MUNA, where Gavin is the lead singer so when I heard she’d put out a solo record I decided to give it a shot.

How It Stacks Up: This is Katie Gavin’s only solo album, so it can’t stack up.

Ratings: 4 Stars

Welcome to another episode of Thoughtful Indie Pop on the CD Odyssey, as we unveil yet another example of an artist you likely won’t hear on the radio despite penning both pretty melodies and engaging and thought-provoking lyrics. Pop radio, you are stupid.

“What a Relief” sees a confident Katie Gavin emerge from her role in MUNA to show that she can go it alone and make music that is just as compelling, catchy and clever as her work in her band. The songs focus heavily on relationships, finding romance and in the daily routines of coupledom. Gavin blurs the line between sexy and domestic in a way you don’t often see (most songs veer one way or another).

“I Want it All” and “Aftertaste” lead off the record walking this line, the former a moody submerged piece, and the latter an upbeat and bouncy pop ditty. Both have lyrical depth, exploring complex emotions, and heaps of relationship history in equal measure. These songs get better with multiple listens, which is always the sign off a good song, and an essential element to pop music in particular.

While fundamentally pop in its structure, the album has a folk/country flavour in many places, often helped along by the addition of Sarah Watkins (Watkins Family) guesting in on fiddle.

A fine example of this - and one of the record’s standouts – is “The Baton”. This song is about mothers and daughters and while the theme is old and well established (the ‘handing of the baton’ through generations) this song does an exceptional job of it. Buoyed by tight harmonies and Watkins’ fiddle (hint: she is very good at the fiddle) this song will give you a tapestry of emotion, rolled together into something celebratory and uplifting.

Gavin’s influences are wide, and in addition to demonstrating strong literacy in country and folk movements, I heard a strong echo of Sarah McLachlan, particularly on moody love pieces like “As Good As It Gets”. I also heard a little Taylor Swift in the phrasing and structure of “Inconsolable”.

“Inconsolable” is one of the record’s best both musically and lyrically. Gavin’s vocals aren’t as rich as Swift’s but she has a breathy charm and a sneaky power similar to Samia (another artist you should be looking up, if you’ve read this far). The song is about two people learning to be vulnerable despite not being taught these skills growing up. The extended chorus says it all:

“We're from a long line of people we'd describe as inconsolable
We don't know how to be helped
Yeah, we're from a whole huddle of households
Full of beds where nobody cuddled
We don't know how to be held
But I've seen baby lizards running in the river when they open their eyes
Even though no one taught them how or why
So maybe when you kiss me, I can let you see me cry
And if we keep going by the feeling, we can get by”

Hey – if lizards can do it surely we can, right?

The record is not perfect. The jazzy elements on “Sanitized Girl” pulled me out of the moment just to be clever, which is a pop no-no. It’s a minor quibble though and is more about my personal biases than anything fundamentally wrong with the song.

Note that while I said this is Gavin’s solo effort (and it is) fellow MUNA member Josette Maskin appears on over half the songs, playing guitar, bouzouki and something called a ‘tamburica’ which the internet tells me is a form of lute originating in the Balkans. She does not play these at the same time, of course. That would be very hard.

When I started listening to this record, I had it pegged early for a 3-star review, but through the course of the week it just got better and better, as I took in the layers of what Gavin accomplishes here, and liked it more and more. This one’s a winner.

Best tracks: Aftertaste, The Baton, Casual Drug Use, Sketches, Inconsolable, Sparrow