Linda McLean

CD: Betty's Room

A chance conversation with a distributor resulted in a copy of this disc arriving the next day no press sheet, no biography, just the disc; searches for reviews and background information on Linda have proved fairly fruitless, and we’ve been patiently sitting on the disc for a few months waiting for the release date to come round all in all not the ideal scenario for a debut album.

Linda McLean is another of the Canadian artists making an impact in the North American singer/songwriter scene, and like her compatriots Kathleen Edwards and Oh Susanna she has a more robust, filled-out sound than most of her obvious United State contemporaries.

From the first listen through this is an album that works in every area, the lyrics are evocative and mature, the arrangements are varied with plenty of contrast, and the melodies are exceptional and instantly memorable. She has a strong voice, reminiscent of Shawn Colvin, Aimee Mann and Alice Peacock in places and these artists are good indicators as to the style of the disc, singer/songwriters with ear-catching melodies without sacrificing the lyrics, instrumentation or production.

All the songs were written by Linda and her partner Andy McLean who plays guitars on the disc, and they’re joined by just 4 other musicians providing drums, mandolin, keyboards and bass it may look simple but the overall sound is rich and varied with lots of musical detail, and the production is worthy of note, everything about the disc feels right.

With eleven genuinely strong songs, picking favourites is just a matter of what mood you’re in, ‘Waiting for the Sky to Fall’ and ‘Mandolin’ are perfect examples of great melodies and lyrics you can listen to them as ear-candy or delve deeper into words and musical details, and this holds true for every track on the disc.

‘Betty’s Room’ is a stunning album by any standards, and the fact it’s a debut makes this a real achievement it isn't high art, but for an album that falls between singer/songwriter and pop it's just about perfect. Great fun.

Fishrecords.co.uk reviews

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