Album title: Dragonfly
Artist: Kasey Chambers
Genre: Country
Nationality: Australian
Release date: January 20
Position in Discography: Eleventh
Fear Factor: Moderate
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Somewhat
Check out more from this artist? Downloading her discography now
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes
The same old dilemma with country albums, and non-American country albums can be a stretch, because like it or not, Americans do country best, and I reckon they invented it, so an Australian lass singing country? Could be a ready-made disaster. But a banjo at the start is an encouraging sound, and her voice reminds me of Nanci Griffith, so we're off to a good start. It's a double album too, so I'm glad we're getting off on the right foot. Sort of bluegrass feel with some nice organwork there, could be a good one. Holy ****: a blues/gospel powerhouse? Superb. This just gets better, and we're only two tracks in. Sweet. So far the only track I kind of don't like is “Talkin' Baby Blues”, bit annoying, but we're soon right back on track.
As it goes on – as is not surprising in an album with twenty tracks – there are a few which fall below the high standard the album sets for itself, but overall it's still one of the best I've heard recently, and along with Miranda Lambert's
The Weight of These Wings. definitely my favourite country album of this year, though admittedly that list is pretty small at the moment. ****: the Miranda album was
last year. Well, an even smaller list, then. This is in the running however for my AOTY overall this year. Suck it.
Expectation Index: 4
