With 2012's
Flesh & Blood,
Sandi Thom leaves any remnants of the chirpy folk-pop, epitomized by her breakout hit "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)," behind. Instead she continues down the much tougher blues-rock path of 2010's
Merchants and Thieves. Her husky, soulful voice fits this music well, and when she gets torchy on ballads such as "I See the Devil in You" and "I Love You Like a Lunatic," you wonder why she didn't choose this direction from the outset of her career. Even more impressive is that all but a handful of these songs are originals, written either solo or in conjunction with others, and their quality is stronger than the majority of those by contemporary blues-soul singers. The gospel underpinnings of the title track also suit
Thom's voice, which gets stronger and more assertive as the tune, led by the singer's own churchy piano, reaches a final crescendo. Credit ex-
Black Crowes co-founder
Rich Robinson for sympathetic production and for bringing aboard some old bandmates like guitarist Audley Freed and drummer Steve Gorman to add heft and drama, yet surprising subtlety, to the album's full sound.
Thom's duet with one of her influences,
Buffy Sainte-Marie, on the latter's "The Big Ones Get Away," not only shines a spotlight on the off-the-radar
Sainte-Marie and her terrific tune, but is only one highlight of this consistently inspiring dozen-tune set.
Thom goes for a funkier approach on "Stormy Weather" (not the
Harold Arlen American Songbook classic best known through
Lena Horn) and strips down to acoustic for the defiant "Rise as One." The funereal album closer "Lay Your Burden Down," led by somber organ, gives
Thom plenty of room to belt out the chorus as the intensity builds to the fiery conclusion of
Thom's finest album, and one that should put the feisty Scottish singer on the map in the States. ~ Hal Horowitz