As complex as the songs get at times, intertwining string arrangements with electronic beats, guitar and various percussion, at its core, the music is all about Havnevik sitting at the piano, pouring her heart out.
Trying to find an innovative artist in the current country music scene is akin to searching for an honest politician. That makes it all the more exciting when a talent like Luke Doucet rises above the crowd. With Broken (and other rogue states), Doucet delivers 13 tracks of liquored-up heartache – hardly new subject matter for country music – each resonating with a pained beauty that instantly engages the listener.
n her Matador Records debut, Over the Mountain, Across the Valley, and Back to the Stars, Jennifer O’Connor delivers a pleasant album full of hum-along melodies.
Every once in a while, a new band arrives and breathes fresh air into a monotonous genre. Such is the case with Oneside, a talented pop-rock quartet from Boston. While incorporating banjo into pop-rock is hardly revolutionary – Béla Fleck, for instance, has been doing that for a while – Oneside combines bluegrass, rock and roll, and a catchy pop mentality into a sound that is distinctively their own.
