Rainy Eyes – Lonesome Highway
What makes this set of songs charming isn’t any authoritative vocal, or aggressive approach or a world-weary troubadour’s tears in the beer-blue escapades. Instead, the Country music direction this artist conjures is with a voice of innocence with strains of sensitivity & illumination.
Originally from California but now based in South Louisiana the Norway native Rainy Eyes (aka Irena Eide) possesses these qualities & most importantly graces each tune with honesty & emotion.
The 11-mile markers on her Lonesome Highway (Drops July 12/Royal Potato Family/44:07) were produced by Dirk Powell (fiddle/banjo) & Irena Eide (multi-instrumentalist). Many original tunes are based on true circumstances which helps justify the purity of the material. Sometimes a singer-songwriter can tip the glass a little & create some scenarios that aren’t quite sincere. But there’s none of that here. These have Country-based melodies, but the lyrics are a healing process.
Fortunately, Rainy Eyes doesn’t load up her music with too much angst & pity. There’s a juvenile voice but not an inexperienced one. The raw immediacy is expressive & what’s convincing is the generous dips into a more 60s spirit. Rainy mixes in generous helpings of bluegrass, roots music, classic rock n’ roll & some jazz to keep the flow from spoiling.
The performances have confidence & Rainy is a prodigiously gifted performer. This CD marks a new beginning for the young artist & offers an escape with an optimistic outlook. The showcase is often good, but it follows a basic pattern. There are few solo detours or showboating which puts the focus on Rainy’s voice & songwriting skills instead.
The ballads seem to work best & she doesn’t rely on peppering her melodies with too much pop airiness. Though the ballad “Faded Away” is a little meandering Rainy’s vocals have the expertise to create a lovely nimbleness to its arrangement. She doesn’t sing like it’s a song but something that matters.
“Set Me Free” is a gentle melodic lift from the classic Johnny Otis 1958 R&R tune “Willie & the Hand Jive.” But that’s alright. What Rainy does is modernize an old melody that youngsters may not have heard. Makes everything old, new again. And this is Rainy’s token R&R submission.
An end sparkler is “Just a Little Rain.” A coherent bright performance. With a song like “Monday’s Gonna Come Around,” may remind one of a country possibility of P.J. Harvey, Ani DiFranco, or Fiona Apple. But Rainy Eyes always maintains her creative distance.
Highlights – “Misty Mama,” “Lonesome Highway,” “A Little Dream,” “To Take His Life,” “Faded Away,” “Set Me Free,” “Just a Little Rain” & “Monday’s Gonna Come Around.”
Musicians – Chris Stafford (pedal steel), Eric Adcock (B3 organ), Sophie Powell & Amelia Powell (harmonies) & featuring Bill Smith, Gina Leslie, Phoebe Hunt, Ric Robertson & Sam Grisman.
A folded lyric insert is included. Photos courtesy of Olivia Light. CD @ Bandcamp + https://www.rainyeyesmusic.com/ & https://royalpotatofamily.com/product/rainy-eyes-lonesome-highway/