This debut release from Nashville-based Jen Starsinic arrives as one of the biggest surprises of 2015. The eleven songs are all self-penned and show a depth and maturity that is rare in a new artist. Produced by Brady Custis, and including some excellent studio musicians, the sound is both old world and gentle.
Jen sings very sweetly and there is a plaintive tone to her voice that gives the songs an added feeling of reflective self-examination. The lyrics are clever and self-contained, with the players capturing the warmth of the songs perfectly in their playing. Piano, banjo, pedal steel, fiddle, cello and guitars blend seamlessly into an atmosphere of soothing melody.
Stay deals with a spinster who has been afraid of commitment her whole life and the frustration caused by a lack of trust. It is a beautifully arranged song and full of compassion. Since You’ve Come Around is a song of lost relationships, where the flame has died. Ragdolls contemplates the same theme of lost love but with a decidedly darker outcome. Dive a Little Deeper is a plea to surrender to the forces at play in a romance. This is music which satisfies the soul and raises the spirits.