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Claire Holley is yet another of those wonderful singer/songwriters that the South has given us.  Hailing from Jackson, Mississippi, and currently living in North Carolina, Holley uses her smooth yet powerful voice to sing songs about a wide array of characters-some she has known and others she has created.

This is Holley's third full-length release, but her first with North Carolina's Yep Roc Records, home of Nick Lowe, Swag, and Los Straightjackets. Stylistically it is closest to her first release, Night Air, as 1999's Sanctuary was more of a collection of traditional hymns and gospel songs. On this disc she presents a nice mix of acoustic pop and folk, with a Southern sensibility, to create songs that are snapshots of particular people in a particular place at a particular time.

The album kicks off with "Oh My," a nostalgic look back at her youth, inspired by memories of her grandmother.  This is followed by "Sea Boy," a fairly upbeat story of a boy who lives by the sea and makes music for whomever cares to listen:

       But if everyday was the same, wouldn't matter to you.
       You'd trade your shoes for a simple tune if that's what you had to do.

The disc changes pace a bit as Holley slows things down on "Billy and Me" and steps inside the mind of a girl who marries a troubled James Dean-like character.  Then comes the lullaby-esque "Sleep, Sleep":

       There's a time and a place for the sun
       but the streetlamp tonight has finally won,
       and it shines so soft through the blinds
       and plays with your face as you lie there.

Other tunes that stand out are "The Lamppost," and "Pennsylvania Town," a song about missing loved ones while out on the road.  And in "Looking for Signs" she sings of hope, even in the face of trials:

       I hear they're singing in prison with the chains around their hands.
       But if they're like me all they can see is the land beyond the wall.

This album, produced by John Plymale (Superchunk and Squirrel Nut Zippers), sets Claire Holley up firmly as one of the best talents working under the singer/songwriter banner.  She more than capably examines the simple things in life that most of us take for granted, and presents them in an interesting and beautiful way, painting musical word pictures that make us want to care about her characters.
 

Ken Mueller 9/06/2001