by Ljubinko Zivkovic (@zivljub)
To many, a mention of a Nashville singer/songwriter, brings a sonic picture of an aspiring country pop artist that will do anything musically to conform to the current trends in country music charts. Yet, there are artists out there in Nashville, singer/songwriters to be more precise, that while making certainly listenable music, escape the current cannons of country music charts. They bring in elements of other music genres and have songwriting/singing capabilities to appeal to anybody that is not strictly tied to country music as such. You can call it Americana, you can call it anything else, but you certainly have to call it good music.
This is where in comes, Erin Rae, one such Nashville singer/songwriter and her second album Lighten Up. Maybe she picked this title because she’s sending a message to all those listeners that have expected something else, like a straight ahead country pop album. Not that Rae doesn’t touch on ‘standard’ country here and there throughout the album, like on “Can’t See Stars” or “Modern Woman,” but it is all in touches and slight nods, she forgoes going full country.
Elsewhere on the album Rae’s songwriting covers practically the full spectrum of sophisticated pop genres. There’s the jazzed-up introduction of “Candy & Curry” and the soulful R&B oriented “True Love Face” to the seventies singer/songwriter west coast stylings of “Gonna Be Strange” and “Drift Away” to full on baroque pop of “Cosmic High”. What does shine throughout the album is Rae’s almost immaculate songwriting and excellent vocals, somewhere between intonations of Mary Margaret O’Hara and cool jazzy stylings of Annette Peacock. Whatever the case is, listening to this album just makes you hold up to its title – lighten up.