March 04, 2004

Indigo Girls's All That We Let In

The latest release from the Indigo Girls has been playing in my CD player for about the last two weeks pretty continuously. I've been a big fan of the Girls since 1990, when I was dragged to one of their shows by my girlfriend at the time (at that show, they played a four thousand person hall like a forty person club). I really enjoyed their last album -- easily their best in years -- so I had really high expectations for this outing.

They mostly met them. Having heard them play quite a few of the songs during tours the year before the disc was released, I had heard some of the music already, but in a very stripped down setting (at most, Emily and Amy playing acoustically). The album has significantly more instrumentation than that; sometimes for the better, other times for the worse.

Some highlights from this album:

  • All That We Let In -- This is easily my favorite song from the album. Emily's vocals are haunting and carry such a melancholy feel. However, the live version with just Emily singing and playing a guitar joined by Amy on harmonies was so much more powerful in its starkness.
  • Free In You -- A really pretty song. As usual, I'm drawn to songs that prominently feature Emily's vocals.
  • Perfect World -- A song with Amy out in front. One of the better upbeat tunes on the disc.

Some of the stranger things on the album:

  • Heartache For Everyone -- An almost ska song. Rather out of character.
  • Come On Home -- Honky-tonk tune.
  • Tether -- A really blues-ed out song feature Joan Osborne on backing vocals.

All in all, this is a pretty good album. I still think that Come On Now Social is a better disc, but I'll be playing this one quite a bit as well.

Posted by Casper at March 4, 2004 05:09 PM
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