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Review: 'LAVERE, AMY'
'Painting Blue'   

-  Label: 'Archer Records'
-  Genre: 'Folk' -  Release Date: '27th March 2020'

Our Rating:
Louisiana-born Amy Lavere’s dulcet, almost child-like vocals have a gentle, calming effect. It's a voice with a limited range but one that is perfect for ironic, bitter sweet reflections on daily life. It isn't so well suited for songs which would benefit from a harder edge. No Battle Hymn, co-written with husband and producer Will Sexton, strays a little too far away from her comfort zone dealing, as it does, with big issues like global warming doom and racial tension.

John Martyn's I Don't Wanna Know is a more comfortable fit as she purrs over a subdued twangy backing about embracing love and rejecting evil. There are two other covers; David Halley’s Stick Horse and a soporific run through of Elvis Costello’s Shipbuilding that blithely glosses over the political subtext of this song.

On Girlfriends sheis also on safe ground; this is a mild dig at cliquey gender-based groups that emphasizes the need to "make up your own mind" on such matters.

The most personal song by a long chalk is No Room For Baby which looks at the reasons why she hasn’t had children and the line "I keep my tears inside" suggests she has doubts abut the correctness of this choice.

Amy plays upright double bass as well as singing and, at just nine tunes and a modest playing time of under forty minutes, she doesn't outstay her welcome.

She takes her leave with Painting Blue (on Everything) a charming and melodic way to close what is for the most part a charming and melodic album.

Amy Lavere's website
  author: Martin Raybould

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LAVERE, AMY - Painting Blue