'Between Green & Gone' is the latest CD release from Vancouver singer songwriter Miriam Jones, and is her seventh release since 2005's 'Sign & Semblance'. The music here is a catchy blend of Americana, roots and country, with some excellent storytelling going on in the songs.
Miriam was born in British Columbia, but spent her childhood in places as far away as Papua New Guinea, where her father was a teacher at a theological college, and Nashville, which was where Miriam's mother grew up. Later, she found herself in Nashville, recording her 2008 album 'Being Here'. As a result, her music embodies several styles, and slips easily between genres.
The title of the album 'Between Green & Gone' come from a quote from the book 'Naked Spirituality' by Brian McLaren, the author and theologian, whom Miriam accompanied on a book launch tour in 2012, and certainly there is a degree of spirituality in Miriam's lyrics, that is woven like a thread throughout the album.
The album opens with 'Train' (nothing to do with the Sisters Of Mercy B side of the same title), an easy going country style number which eases one into the album. The lyrics referring to the topic of love take an interesting slant:-
“It happened on a normal day, out of the blue just like they say/ It snuck up on me like a train/ Love may jump you like a thief, but when it goes it tends to creep/ I felt the tremors miles beneath my feet/ And I froze there, listening.”
|
Other excellent tracks are 'Unknown', which starts as a slow bluesy ballad, then gradually unfolds into an anthemic country song, one of the longest songs on the album at four and a half minutes long, it still seems to pass by so quickly.
'All Over', the country ballad is another song that grabs the listener: - “You tore it slowly and then you told me it was all over/ Thought I was cold but I'll have you know I felt it all over/ And I could carry you forever like a stone on my shoulders/ But I can't bear you in the flesh and in the bone and walking all over.”
This is a likeable album, that will appeal to most fans of Americana, and is available from :
Miriam Jones Bandcamp page either as a download, or in CD format, and there are links to Miriam's earlier albums should anyone wish to dip into her back catalogue.
|
