photo: Tom Krueger
Deceptive sweetness rules supreme on Your Heart is a Glorious Machine, the new album by Sometymes Why, an all female folk "super" group from NYC. Kristin Andreassen, Ruth Ungar Merenda and Aoife O'Donovan, were all enjoying success with their own groups when they first teamed up in 2006 and released a self-titled album. The follow-up, Your Heart is a Glorious Machine, finds them exploring the outskirts of traditional folk mashed with bluegrass and a bit of bluesy rock 'n' roll and country.
The three ladies all contributed three songs - you can tell who wrote a particular easily, because she will be doing the lead vocals. The sole cover is an acoustic version of Joey, the Concrete Blonde hit form the early nineties. It's nice enough, but their own material is far superior. The provocative opener Aphrodisiaholic sets the tone for the album, that deals mostly with men in gentle but firm songs. Cold Feet Blues is a thirties styled neo-traditional, The Stupid Kiss tells the story of the trouble a girl can get if she shares a kiss with a guy who was supposed to be a good friend.
The Sometymes Why members played nearly all the instruments, with leading roles for the baritone ukelele and glockenspiel. Michael and Will Merenda helped out with the percussion bits. If Your Heart is a Glorious Machine is indication where folk is heading, the genre has a healthy future.
Your Heart is a Glorious Machine is released on Signature Sounds.
Tracks:
- Aphrodisiaholic
- Slow Down
- My Crazy
- Joey
- Shine It
- Diamond
- The Stupid Kiss
- Cold Feet Blues
- Glorious Machine
- The Sound Asleep
Live date:
- 04/16 Cornelia Street Cafe, New York, NY
MP3: Sometymes Why - The Stupid Kiss
MP3: Sometymes Why - Glorious Machine
» sometymeswhy.com
» myspace.com/sometymeswhy