Though Brooklyn songstress Julia Weldon’s first album didn’t exactly place her on everyone’s radar, if there’s any justice in the music industry, this follow up will make everyone in tune with indie folk instantly a fan of hers. Combining forthright storytelling surrounding family, loss and regret, her music draws parallels to legends like Bob Dylan or more recent stars like Iron & Wine, all while retaining her own niche. Her sound is at times so close to folk music, country twang and pop rock, but it just doesn’t quite fit any predictable molds.
While tracks like the pop based “Went To My Woman” and “Careful In The Dark” could and should easily put Weldon into the mainstream, other gentle folksy songs like “You Never Know” and “Icarus” are on par with indie rock’s finest guitar strumming. “Same Games” and “Miles” shows that Weldon can pen a breathy ballad, while “Marian” shuffles with a twang influence, sounding right at home in Nashville. In “Round Again,” Weldon says she wants to write like Dylan, undoubtedly one of her influences, and on “Soon,” the detailed guitar work has guitar acrobatics à la Elliott Smith, another songwriter who she occasionally does bring to mind.
Plenty of songwriters are using country, folk, jazz, and blues influences these days. What separates Weldon is her intimate and eloquent wordplay, elegant yet gritty voice and proficient guitar playing. Amazingly, one could envision an audience as varied as people in cowboy boots riding horses, ultra-cool hipsters with Velcro shoes or even middle aged couples playing this while entertaining family. Produced by Saul MacWilliams (Ingrid Michaelson) and with Tegan And Sara’s Adam Christgau helping out behind the drum kit, every second here is top notch from all aspects, and easily makes this one of the if not the best singer/songwriter album this year.
