mardi 22 Aoû 2006, 4h25m
I've always been a huge fan of Shawn Colvin's simple yet heart-wrenching folk-pop. Her first album "steady on" is a masterpiece and her studio albums since then have had moments of greatness as well.
Her last studio album (besides the lullabye one which I don't count) had 3 songs worth listening to, it sounded far too much like she was trying to come up with some radio play after the success of "Sunny Came Home".
Now she's back and fiestier than ever with "These Four Walls". Here, Colvin is taking all the moments of brilliance from her past studio albums and turning them into a cohesive mixture of folk-pop, acoustic ballads, and a few hard-hitting electro-folk numbers.
She's back with a vengance with help from long-time producer/song-writing partner John Leventhal as well as Patty Griffin who provides backing vocals on "Cinnamon Road".
The first single "Fill Me Up" may sound a little polished at first but really it's a better pop song than "Sunny Came Home" and it won't leave your head for awhile.
The album has many moments of darkness and I think that's what drew me to it at first. Shawn doesn't hide her emotions and she is most accesible when it's just her and an acoustic guitar singing lyrics that Ryan Adams would be proud of.
All in all, this is a welcome return. A nice mixture of "Steady On" and "a few small repairs" with enough new Shawn to keep it interesting instead of making you return to the old albums.
Definitely something to pickup when it's released next month.