Abigail Washburn - City of Refuge

First thing is that it's definitely not going to appeal to everyone. There's a lot of Celtic and Old Country sensibilities here, so if that turns you off immediately, probably nothing I'm going to write going forward is going to change anything.

For what it is, it's a good album. Perhaps a tad on the bland side. Not in the sense that everything sounds the same, but everything seems to get exactly as powerful through every song. It will turn itself up to 7 and then stay there a bit. And never go higher.

That being said, it's a very sweet album. Washburn's voice sounds wonderful, a less-nasal Ys era Joanna Newsom. The songs are well arranged and composed, and City of Refuge is a truly beautiful song. If there was only more contrast in sound over the album, I'd want to listen to it so much more. My petty complaints shouldn't be able to take away from what this is. An exceptionally written, well performed, occasionally unenthralling album.

It's a good album, better than most in it's genre right now. 7.4 / 10