Amy Fairchild’s self-titled fourth CD is loaded with the hooky folk-pop she’s been known for since her 1994 debut in the Boston music scene. Fairchild’s brisk approach, vocalizing like a rock singer over folksy, poppy acoustic guitar, works well for her on this new album.
“Situation” opens the new album with a hearty guitar strum while boasting a beat that pushes this along with the greatest of ease. Fairchild’s edgy vocal skates across her acoustic guitar soundscape with attitude and verve. Her feisty chorus is catchy as hell, and she gives it her all, attitude and fine delivery wrapped up in one unstoppable rush of energy.
“Hold Me Down” cruises in with a gentle vocal push while Fairchild’s rhythm section takes its sweet time punctuating her verses with their cool chord progression. Fairchild’s particularly fine vocal timbre takes the turns and twists well as she stretches herself into mightier expression. It’s hard to find words to describe how well Fairchild does her thing. She is unique in vocal timbre, expression, and in her songwriting structure. She’s found the right guitar tuning to match and support her singular vocal sound. Her supporting players follow her well, offering multiple shades of color and tone to keep with her instincts.
“Long Way Down” finds Fairchild emoting easefully over a forlorn acoustic guitar melody and mildly peppy piano line. Her voice fills the space left wide open by the sublime musical accompaniment, giving her listeners a whole lot of her vocal to focus on. This is a treat for the ears as she spreads her lovely voice far and wide, especially during her sweeping chorus, moments when she pulls the song wide open, exposing her emotional vulnerability with artfulness and taste. Producer Adam Steinberg presses out a smooth, emotive lead guitar line that adds beautifully to this song’s narrative arc.
“I’ve Tried,” featuring only Fairchild on vocals and solo piano, comes off more unique than others’ solo piano singer-songwriter numbers. Fairchild has a special way of asserting her vocal notes in her verses. She has so much control over each syllable that she can inject color and emotion into any crevice, nook, and cranny she chooses. You have to hear how finds her spaces to fill to appreciate the considered artfulness of expression here.
“Time Bomb” gets a little more pluck from Steinberg’s lilting bass lines. It allows Fairchild to pivot around her groove more freely. She uses the leeway well, offering plenty of assertion in her feisty chorus after emoting more gently during the build up in her verses. It doesn’t hurt to have Sarab Singh drumming on this and other tracks. Singh puts a little something extra special in his skin smacking.
“Pieces” is a lively poppy folk-rock number. Fairchild scores when she goes into another of her assertive choruses. Catchy but also unique, this singer-songwriter knows how to bring color and verve into her hooks. She glides through them with tremendous lift while piloting straight into the listener’s heart.
“Peter Pan” rocks things up a bit. The band, featuring bassist Jeff St. Pierre, pedal steel player Jon Graboff, and guitarist Jim Weider, is in fine form. Not only are they energetic, they rock with a sophistication in their nuances. Wrapping their carefully layered, structured rock and roll around Fairchild’s voice, the band clothes her in a suit of armor for this assertive, message song. From there, the singer-songwriter lets the Peter Pan in her life have it, nailing him with her lyrical strikes while zinging him with her deadly serious vocal tone.
“Get It Right” benefits from a sprightly chorus. Fairchild’s vocal lands in that soft spot in between honky tonk toughness and emotional honesty. Twangy electric guitar and a second, more edgy guitar attempt to balance the conflicting emotions bouncing off of each other here. Fairchild, as a songwriter, doesn’t seem completely sure how she should feel about the person her song is about. So she uses her ambivalence, swinging from her anthem approach of singing the fellow’s praises before, in a subtle shift, sinking into a bit of despair over his emotional unavailability.
“Oh Marie” returns to a singer-songwriter backdrop. Fairchild accompanies herself on acoustic guitar while electric guitarist Andy Santospago and upright bass player Jef Charland offer plenty of edgy notes and plucky notes, respectively. Fairchild’s unique vocal assertions find a warm home in the weave of textured notes around her. She injects plenty of feeling for her song’s subject, having the right instinct for just how much oomph to offer in each verse. The meaningful back story to this tale comes through loud and clear each time Fairchild croons, despite her laid back, subtle approach. Her voice is like a an artist’s palette. She has many colors, tones, techniques to choose from as she paints her picture.
“1-2-3” is another singer-songwriter approach. Mandolin work from Andy Santospago and Aaron Goff add plenty of sweet, brittle notes to bring in all sorts of forlorn emotions into Fairchild’s song. Toss in an electric guitar mourning tenderly in the backdrop and Fairchild has a full soundscape behind her. And again, her sense of knowing exactly how and when to stretch her timbre, tones, colors does justice to her words.
Closing out with “Love Love Love,” Fairchild hints at the song’s intensity with her and her band going full electric into more straight forward rock territory. With just a touch of folk in her vocal, this singer-songwriter jumps into her anthem of motivation, love. She offers something that could be found on modern rock radio while also staying true to her singer-songwriter sensibility. Her vocalizing means business here, in a tender way. She’s crying out for love’s salvation and she expresses her hope and desperation with a voice that can carry all of those emotions in one single assertive burst.
Fairchild has come a long way since her first album in 1994. She is clearly an artist who has grown by leaps and bounds and knows clearly how to get her universal messages across with striking vocal ability and gripping musical authority.
