By Sarah Greene
Saskatchewan-born, Brooklyn-based songwriter Ana Egge delves into dark subject matter on her Steve Earle-produced seventh album, recorded at the late Levon Helm’s studio in upstate New York.
Egge’s Americana recalls Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch, but with a harder edge and a delivery that’s her own. Though the guitar work can be overly pretty (Egge built her main instrument herself) and many songs have an upbeat folk-pop feel, lurking just under the surface are multiple references to the title’s bad blood.
Opener Driving With No Hands conveys the distress and confusion of mental illness through distorted guitar and topsy-turvy string lines, and a weary urgency runs through the chorus of the gentler Hole In Your Halo. The title track, about crimes committed by a family, kicks off like a frantic heartbeat, while Silver Heels tells of prostitutes who lost their lives during the 1918 flu epidemic.
Top track: Hole In Your Halo