Despite my long-time fondness for Bloodshot Records (we\u2019ll avoid mention of their recent ignominious end) and Americana out of Chicago, somehow Nora O\u2019Connor has heretofore gotten past me. After hearing My Heart <\/i>it\u2019s clear that this speaks only to the embarrassing gaps in my musical knowledge and says nothing at all about O\u2019Connor\u2019s talent or musical friends and partners, who include Alejandro Escovedo, Kelly Hogan, and Neko Case, as well as her own band, the Flat Five. In fact, a quick internet search turned up a cover of the Handsome Family\u2019s \u201cDrunk By Noon,\u201d and an absolutely smoking version of John Prine\u2019s \u201cAngel Of Montgomery\u201d with both Escovedo and Hogan. Clearly, I\u2019ve got some catching up to do. <\/p>\n
As of this writing, O\u2019Connor has been touring as a singer and multi-instrumentalist for Neko Case, and right off the bat you can hear why her strong, clear voice would blend well with Case\u2019s. In fact, it\u2019s easy to imagine the two singing lead-off track \u201cSore,\u201d which wouldn\u2019t sound out of place on a Neko Case album. Press materials make comparisons to Linda Ronstadt, and there certainly is some of that \u201970s AM radio vibe to several tracks, such as \u201cCambridge Cold\u201d and \u201cIt\u2019s Alright Now,\u201d which are smooth and gentle. However, I tend to come down on the side of tension and melancholy (hey, I\u2019m working on it!), and the lovely, downbeat \u201cGrace\u201d is among my favorite songs here.<\/p>\n
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Which is not to say there isn\u2019t plenty of lyrical tension, and the instrumentation is always lush while still affording plenty of space for O\u2019Connor to express joy, sorrow, and some things in between. And speaking of musical friends, her Flat Five bandmate Jon Rauhouse, who has played with everyone from Jon Langford to KT Tunstall, also lends his wonderful pedal steel to the album. The record ends on a high if sad note with \u201cFare Thee Well,\u201d a melancholy parting paired with a soaring chorus. Of course, it\u2019s another favorite.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s true I might prefer a little more grit here and there, I was listening to this album in the car when my girlfriend said, \u201cI like a lot of music that is similar to this, and I can tell right away that there is something different about this woman.\u201d That\u2019s high praise, I can tell you, and My Heart <\/i>is honest and authentic in every way. If you are a fan of any of the above-mentioned artists\u2014or, say, Freakwater, and the vocals of Janet Beveridge Bean\u2014I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll find much to enjoy in this record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":34602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[10780],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-46452","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-nora-oconnor","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46452"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}