Caitlin Cannon – Love Addict
This is an interesting set as Caitlin Cannon makes a viable attempt to take a vintage musical genre & not so much present it with her own pop swing but recreate it in a more unique setting. This is brave because many aficionados of Country can be fickle. However, Gram Parsons had earlier added a tint of rock to his country by leaving the traditional ghosts in place. There’s Outlaw country, alt-country & country blues – so, adaptations along the way have worked in the past & attractively so.
The 10 numbers on Love Addict (Drops May 9/Independent/38:09) were recorded in Nashville & were produced by Misa Arriaga (acoustic, high strung, baritone & electric guitars/electric tic tac/percussion/piano/mellotron/vibes/bgv). The songs incorporate humor, vulnerability, satire & sincerity that touch upon topics such as loss, addiction & self-worth. The themes cover dreamy Americana, classic country with gritty grooves that are impressively evocative.
Ms. Cannon (vocals/acoustic guitar/bgv) focuses on the broken people, the downtrodden & in some respects the lost (so I wonder why she named her LP simplistically “Love Addict” when her scope seems to be wider & a bit more intense). Other writers have described the music in colorful musical terms as cosmic country (a nice tagline & imaginative too), with sonic intergalactic landscapes. The aim should be more on Caitlin. What she carefully shapes into her own entertaining & compelling showcase.
From the first song, “Love Addict,” it sounds more musically like Caitlin is applying some progressive rock patterns to her country propulsive style. Her voice is countrified, but the strings & instrumental additives lean gently into progressive nuances. Nice, different approach while Caitlin decorates the arrangement with a sensual dialect. Mainstream should embrace this & why not?
Caitlin falls back to more classic country on “I Wouldn’t Say I Love You,” & she’s convincing. Similar artists? I find on songs like “You’re Losing Me” — a challenging beauty as presented by Jackie DeShannon (“Don’t Turn Your Back On Me,” “Splendor In the Grass”). The peculiarity in Caitlin’s music is the added strings, which border on the ‘60s pop songs application that effectively added mood, atmosphere. “Let It Hurt Some” has this & it’s skillfully distinguished.
Nice horn thrust on the rockier “The Dealer” while “Room 309” & “Waiting” both have a compelling Shangri-Las/Amy Winehouse attraction. Caitlin is a sensitive, well-articulated vocalist.
Highlights – “Love Addict,” “I Wouldn’t Say I Love You,” “You’re Losing Me,” “Let It Hurt Some,” “The Dealer,” “Room 309,” “My Own Company,” & “Waiting.”
Musicians – Jon Murray (bass), Taylor Floreth (drums/percussion/triangle), Tommy Perkinson (drums/percussion), Eddy Dunlap (pedal steel/dobro/electric guitar), Adam Mesiterhans (electric, acoustic & baritone guitars/electric & 12 string guitars/electric/tic tac), Ryan A. Keith (Rhodes/piano), Matt Combs & Nathaniel Smith (strings), Ilya Portnov (harmonica), Chris Gelbuda (acoustic guitar/bgv), Nate Heffron (horns/horn arranger), Ben Clark (horns), Luke Munday (banjo/bgv) & Kree Harrison (bgv).
Color image courtesy of Caitlin’s Bandcamp. CD @ Bandcamp & https://www.caitlincannonmusic.com/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Caitlin Cannon “Beggar”
