Eilen Jewell: Boundary County

Jewell appeared on Elsewhere a few weeks back (see tag) with her second album Letters From Sinners & Strangers -- but this debut from 2006 is actually much better, and it seems to have been given local release on the back of interest in that more recent one.

Where Sinners/Strangers has a jazzy shuffle in places, this one is more firmly in the alt.country camp and her lazy, slightly draggin' vocals suits this lightly swinging but lyrically smart material.

And the Lucinda comparison so clear on Sinners/Strangers is almost absent here.

These are songs of the lonely city and long highways, of looking for love and being abandoned, of making your way in this hard-edged world. Jewell however sings with a seductive sweetness, and the band here (notably Jerry Miller on lap steel and dobro) add the dimension of musical colour to the emotions on display.

If you liked Sinners/Strangers then you'll fall for this one. If it passed you buy start right here. She sounds very special.