A couple of years ago there was a time when it seemed that almost every American contemporary singer-songwriter was an angst ridden singer, often with a voice and delivery best described as 'individual,' using song writing and singing as therapy. I'm sure it wasn't really that bad but it was bad enough that I stopped listening to anything that looked like singer songwriter material from artists I didn't know. This album with it's self penned compositions, dark moody blue and purple artwork had me a little worried. But hey! What do you know? It's actually extremely good. It isn't full of angst and agony, but it has all shades of mood, from upbeat and lively to thoughtful, and with plenty of variation of style and arrangement to keep it interesting. The songs are well constructed, nicely arranged, have intelligent words and, most importantly of all, are satisfying for the listener. Fran Gray has also surrounded herself with some excellent musicians. They not only play well, but they sound as though they enjoyed playing Gray's music, so it comes over with feeling. Drums, mandolin, dobro, congas, keyboards, electric lead and rhythm guitars, in addition to Fran's guitars, give it a distinct rock/pop flavour in places.
The first track "In Your Room" is indeed more of a gentle rock pop number than a folk one. Having a lively intense backing it is a good 'easy' track to lead you into the album. The next track, "Erica," has a much more laid back, late night feel and slightly jazzy atmosphere featuring what sounds like a fretless bass. I know it's very unfair to make comparisons and parallels between artists, but on hearing this track I couldn't avoid thinking that if Vicky Clayton and her band were to cover some Crosby,Stills & Nash it would probably sound very similar to this. "Smokin' Tongue" is a mid paced ballad with some relaxing gentle electric guitar and vocals which sound to be set back further into the mix than is usual; it's very effective and gives it a gentle but powerful presence. "Shroud" is a 'worm' track. It's short at just over 2 minutes but that's enough. Once you have heard it a couple of times it keeps coming back (in the nicest possible way) to haunt you and you find it running around your head hours or days later. I suppose that should qualify it as a pop song? "Shroud" and the following tracks, "Torn" and "If I Were You," almost seem to segue together. They are all good strong rock ballads, almost pop songs; they are slightly reminiscent of some Tom Petty numbers.
"Blues Stay Away From Me", is the only 'standard' song on the album, a laid back jazzy blues number. It adds variety to the album, but I have to say I wouldn't have sequenced it there. "Amazing Light", which follows is a light and gentle ballad, but even so the instrumental arrangement is quite complex and powerful. It is followed by "The Way That I do Things", quieter and more reflective but building in intensity, it's the track I would have put at 7. The album finishes with "Ancient of Days" and "Run Away."
This is a very enjoyable album. It's very much an American album but avoids the slight country sound, which to my English ears pervades much American singer songwriter material. Fran's voice and vocal delivery are excellent, the vocals being clear and easy on the ears at all times. This is much closer to folk-rock, than 'singer songwriter', perhaps partly down to Chicago and Portland musical influences rather than just the more common Nashville or Californian ones? While I can hear influences like Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joni Mitchell and perhaps Tom Petty, I can also hear similarities with English artists like Vicky Clayton, Christine Collister and Julie Matthews. To be critical I would have to say that more sleeve note information would have been nice. Most people probably don't care but there are people like me who like to know exactly what was played on what track. I find "Blues Stay Away from Me" annoying at track 7 where it breaks the flow of the album, but these are very minor points compared to the album's strengths. If I found a few more albums of this high quality I would quickly overcome my singer songwriter phobia.
Fran Gray has a web site at which has plenty of information about her and her songs, and a good selection of downloadable MP3 files that makes a visit well worth while.
