Sara Jean Kelley Proves She Hang With Nashville Greats On ‘Black Snake’ EP (ALBUM REVIEW)

The stunning opening title track sets the tone on Black Snake, the Nashville singer-songwriter Sara Jean Kelley’s haunting sophomore EP. The acoustic strumming, weeping violins, rich bass, and otherworldly vocals paint a picture of lonesome despair before a warbling electric guitar line cuts through the song like lightning during a summer thunderstorm. 

Kelley’s direct style, ethereal singing, and ominous sense of foreboding are everywhere on this EP as she and producer Kyle Dreaden deliver six songs with passion and weary confidence. “A Prayer to Whomever” deals with monsters in personal darkness (a recurring theme throughout the EP) around soaring fiddles and fluttering vocals before “I Am The Ocean” pulls power up from the deep with heavy metal riffs and stomping drums; rocking out with abandon. 

The soft/loud dynamic works from song to song on Black Snake as the broken-hearted/rebounding “Our Story/The End” focuses on a pause of time/relationships/life with a climactic finale while “Bleeding Stone” picks up a honkytonk strut, washing it down with some rambling ways and whiskey flavored twang. Album closer “Rains in Montana” returns to the softer side with a hopeful lyric, wrapping up the questioning EP on a bright note.  The songwriting, production/tone, excellent singing, and execution on display confirm Sara Jean Kelley is hitting her stride. Black Snake proves Kelley can hang with the Nashville legends whose path she follows, in her own unique styl

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