Track Listing

1. Phone Message
2. Cover Me
3. Hallelujah
4. Beautiful
5. Dear Heart
6. Hollywood
7. Walking In My Sleep
8. All Souls Day
9. Bound Brook
10. Traveling Alone
11. Here
12. Waterside

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4818 in Music
• Released on: 2008-01-22
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
"Traveling alone is a wonderful thing," sings Patty Larkin on her first album of original material in five years. She means it. As producer, mixer, writer, and the only musician involved, Larkin embarks on as much a solo project as you can get. The veteran folkie plays everything from bass to baritone guitar, banjo, and bazouki on these 12 introspective tracks. Some, like "Hallelujah" and the opening "Phone Message," are driven by subtle, loping drum loops. Everything is overdubbed, including Larkin’s lovely, dusky singing, but there is never an insular feel to this atmospheric set. With its bubbling percussion, dissonant bluesy slide guitar, and spooky vibe, "Beautiful" tells of walking in a park with a somewhat ominous musical undercurrent to lyrics that infer, but don’t specify, impending danger. Larkin plays more conventional folk guitar on "Dear Heart," but on the most arresting songs, she pushes and prods the sound--and her layered vocals--in more experimental, less traditional directions. The tinge of Billie Holiday even creeps into her voice on "Walking in my Sleep," one of the project’s most compelling moments. This music demands time and attention. It unravels gracefully and gradually, repeated spins yielding previously hidden details that drift over the listener like a humid fog on a summer’s morning. --Hal Horowitz

Customer Reviews

A great musician/singer
A superb album, her voice, guitar playing work together wonderfully. I've enjoyed Patty's music over the years and found this album to be up to her excellent standards.

Solid
Saw Patty last nite in Mpls, didn't know a thing about her. Bought this CD, she signed it. Good show, nice person. Gets better each spin. Listened to it 3x today, really dig it.

Well-rounded Americana
Veteran singer-songwriter Larkin turns in an incredibly well-rounded effort here: Americana pop that stays true to its roots but also updates itself with some well-chosen synthetic beats. What's more, she wrote, played and produced everything you hear on this disc. And she scores on every count: the writing is more than competant, the production is crystal clear, and the playing is very accomplished -- for those keeping count, that's twelve different instruments she plays. Her singing voice is a strong alto, perhaps roughly the same range as Melissa Ethridge, but clear and without any faux-huskyness. Though this recording appears on Vanguard, a hallmark folks label, Larkin shouldn't be pigeon-holed: she blends elements of folk, roots and pop into something that is new and irredcuible to any of them. She shows up a lot of lesser talents (Sheryl Crow comes easily to mind) and holds her own in a long line of singer-songwriters going back to, whom, Joan Baez(?) and ahead from there to Bonnie Raitt, Tracy Chapman and Lucinda Williams.