Opening track ’Searching’ begins like a homage to the comforting country music that we all know, acoustic guitar backed by chicken-picking guitar licks and steady snare beats welcome us before the vocals lead us into a dreamy love song complete with a catchy chorus. It feels like it’s been lifted from a ‘Welcome to Nashville’ tourist video, so it comes as no surprise that Tamsin spent a little time in the home of country music.
The album really comes alive when the band join in and support her, it could be argued that songs ‘Fearless’ and ‘Upwards for Me’ are the strongest on the album and certainly have the broadest appeal to people new to this style of music. The one thing I would change though is where these songs sit on the album, like naughty school children, they should be separated and kept slightly apart, the tempo and key are similar so they drift from one into another seamlessly, but sitting where they do gives the album a beautiful lift to the middle section before going into the more folky surroundings of ‘Jennifer’ and the bitter sweet ‘Seventeen’ that tells the story of people living with regrets, broken dreams and missed chances, heavy stuff but the vocals manage to tell the story with a maturity the song requires.
This album would be a great companion to watch a sun set or watch a bottle of wine slowly lose its contents with friends, there is much to enjoy and, after listening to it a few times, it does what great albums do, it slowly reveals little secrets to the listener that you haven’t heard before.
I’m interested to know what other songs she has up her sleeve because this is clearly the beginning of an interesting journey.