Released in late 2015 as a sort of companion piece to her full-length solo debut from earlier in the year,
Rhiannon Giddens'
Factory Girl EP offers an additional five tracks of defiantly reinvented folk, blues, country, and even Celtic music. Recorded with
T-Bone Burnett during the same sessions that produced the acclaimed
Tomorrow Is My Turn, the
Carolina Chocolate Drops frontwoman feels right at home on the brassy blues of "That Lonesome Road" and the jazzy "Underneath the Harlem Moon," though her rum-running-inspired original track, "Moonshiner's Daughter," is the obvious highlight of this brief set. While
Giddens' fearless attempt at a traditional Gaelic vocal style on "Mouth Music" feels like a bit of a stumble, this EP is, for the most part, a worthy addendum to her excellent debut. ~ Timothy Monger