"Take You Away" Megan Palmer

I think it's safe to say that Sunken Treasure is my favorite local label. I can't say I know of any others, but any label that handles both Eric Metronome and Megan Palmer is a-okay in my book. Robert Duffy of DoneWaiting.com runs the small label, and he's the kind soul that sent this gorgeous album my way a few weeks back. It took about 15 seconds of album opener, "Deadman" for me to realize that this was something special. It was the kind of music that was perfect for the bitter cold of those mid-November days. It was dipping into the twenties for the first time of the season, but Megan's warm voice and cozy instrumentation provided the perfect soundtrack. I may have been toiling away at the cube farm, gazing absently out at the slate grey skies, ever-threatening to release the feather-light clusters of first snowflakes, but inside I was sitting close to the hearth at my Grandma's house, feet snuggled in a thick pair of socks just far enough away from the fire to avoid scorching, and a cup of warm, spiced cider cradled in my hands. I was still staring absently, but instead of a depressing parking lot and empty community pool, I was transfixed by the dancing flames and the dancing tunes inside my head.

I heard someone describe her voice as half-way between Fiona Apple and Emmylou Harris. I'd say that's a pretty accurate statement, but it's also got a familiarity and closeness that I've not heard anywhere else. Well, wait, no I have heard it, in one of the most spellbinding female voices I've ever known, Sally Ellyson of Hem, she's got it too. There's a dusty, world-weariness to the tunes, but that's not to say they lack optimism and hope. Palmer's vocals are perfectly joyful, even when lowered in somber reflection. It's got a happiness and brightness, even when singing of loss and love.

The songs are sometimes colorful country and other times gentle Americana. Never boring, the acoustic guitar and Palmer's voice are sometimes accompanied by violins, ukelele, and even a wimpering dog. Unexpected instrumentation keeps the album alive and vibrant when some other artists might have been content with merely a guitar and a quiet drum. With guests like the one and only Eric Metronome, and help from Tim Easton, she would be hard pressed to have put out a bad album. Quite the contrary, "Take You Away" pulled the sort of feat that Tally Hall pulled last year, leaping head and shoulders above her competition and easily joining the ranks of ThaBombShelter's Top Ten List (due out just after Christmas).

I really can't say enough about how beautiful, touching, gorgeous, warm, beautiful, cozy, close, and beautiful this album truly is. Megan Palmer is that mug of warm cider at your Grandma's house, she's the soft blanket on your couch on a snow day, that special someone curled up asleep in the bed next to you, a silhouette in laptop light as you stay up to finally praise this incredibly deserving album late on a Thursday night. She's everything I want in a female vocalist, and she's made an album that's everything I want in a winter soundtrack (although, I'm sure it will be just as strong in the dusty, mid-August heat of an Ohio summer).

Official MySpace Buy

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