The reissue of Cantrell’s 2000 debut is timely following the critical success of last year’s When The Roses Bloom Again, and a major US tour with Elvis Costello. John Peel deemed this his “favourite record of the last 10 years and possibly my life”, while Costello describes her sound as “if Kitty Wells made Rubber Soul”. Nashville-bred, NYC-based Cantrell is steeped in country and bluegrass, but brings a strident grace all her own. Set atop guitars both acoustic and twangy?and soft squeals of steel?her voice is cut-glass pure. Like Wells and the McGarrigle sisters before her, she forgoes the traditional hick-in-throat approach for a sound like crushed ice slowly melting.
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