Monica Rizzio’s new Sunshine Is Free album accomplishes her mission of reaching the human heart by exposing her own vulnerable feelings all the while keeping her songs in a danceable motion. One can picture barrooms, honky tonks, and being out on the range as Rizzio’s lyrical drama unfolds within her country strong narratives.
Opening cut “Nothin’” is a playful ode to not want to do anything. This call to relax gets a sweet vocal touch from Rizzio while her support band weave a pleasant tapestry that unfolds at the same easeful pace. Drummer Evan Hutchings places a persistent snap into this piece, a fill that makes this tune even more catchy. This anthem to chill feels as mellow as its lyrical content and the vocals and musicianship spread out like a blanket before the sitters begin their picnic.
Title track “Sunshine Is Free” is as bright ad sunny as it sounds. Rizzio’s playful vocal has lighthearted fun, her delivery a catchy bounce, especially when she hits her simple, optimistic chorus. Singing over a restless country groove, snappy, twangy guitars her voice finds the perfect moments in the open spaces to emit her lilting vocal melody.
Mellow country roots number “My Sweet Heart” starts out with Rizzio’ lilting vocal melody carrying it with a hushed whisper. Suddenly, she widens the song with a shift in dynamics, caresssing her lyrics with vocal notes that move like silken glove over a smooth wooden banister. Her voice also makes a fine contrast with Will Kimbrough’s tender mandolin notes as she sails over all.
“The Shire” comes wafting in pleasantly on the strength of a pretty, whistling lead guitar line. Rizzio builds up the song from there one vocal brick at a time. She places a heartfelt verses at a considerate pace, letting the sweet, country chirp in her vocal to grow in the same garden as a perky electric guitar, an emotive fiddle line, and some gritty banjo and mandolin. By the time she finishes up here, Rizzio has got the listener all caught up in her shire world.
With a plateful of oomph, Rizzio and her band push their way into “Story Of My New Year,” a country rocker, upbeat, uptempo, an anthem for reinvention. Beneath Rizzio’s vocal drive, targeted at a smooth mid dynamic, rides a lead guitar that cooks hot and sweet like it’s making maple syrup. Bass guitar notes have a slight knobby presence to add sweet muscle to Rizzio’s confident theme.
“Hard To Love” is a dreamy country piece. Floating by like a sweet cloud, this song finds Rizzio drawling her lyrics with tender consideration. Singing over a tender pedal steel line, she convinces the listener she feels what her song is about.
Rizzio pleads to meet up with a genuine cowboy in “The Real McCoy.” Her chirpy rasp rides well over a wistful pedal steel line, a hearty contrast that highlights the pedal steel as well as her voice. Rizzio caresses the emotion and desire out of this song, milking it for all the feeling it’s worth. Her voice, as authentic as all the country picking instrumentation around her, carries a special purr within her very timbre. She knows what she wants in a man.
Featuring guest Mindy Smith on harmony vocals, Rizzio takes “While With You” to a special place. Rizzio, with Smith’s support, finesses her lyrical tribute to companionship. Both singers widen this number with their sweeping, pretty vocals, and their tremendous shifts in dynamics expand everything beautifully.
“Little Bit Of Truth” comes chugging in with a shuffling groove and a slapping guitar chord progression. Over this jaunty pace Rizzio finds a good home from her voice among thin, brittle pedal steel, a rangy harmonica line, and some flinty, rustic acoustic instruments. She carries this one along, multiple moving parts and all, with a conviction and lyrical truth that stirs the soul while motivating some toe tapping action.
“Sunday” takes this listener through a tender softly sung reflection on a failed love. Although it’s a hauntingly lonely song, Rizzio injects it with enough emotive strength for us to enjoy her powerful presence. She eventually turns this mournful dandy into an anthem of post-relationship recovery and strength. Pretty notes from each of her backing musicians help turn this pool of sadness into something with wider emotional appeal.
A weepy affair, close out song “Don’t Keep Me Up Waiting” is a deliciously honky tonk flavored you done me wrong song. With a backdrop of crying guitar, lonesome pedal steel, and a moping fiddle, Rizzio narrates how her unfolding relationship drama has done worn her out. Her timbre has just enough edge for these confrontational numbers, and her waltzing vocal just drawls out the forlorn emotions here.
Monica Rizzio has taken things up a few notches since her last CD, Washashore Cowgirl. This new “Sunshine Is Free” feels even freer, looser, and grander than her previous work, which also stood out in local country circles. Here, Rizzio has reached an even higher level of earnestness in her songwriting while also creating a wider, all encompassing sound.
Working with players like Joe Pisapia, Michael Rinne, Danny Mitchell, Spencer Cullum, Tom Lombardo, Eamon, McLaughlin, Gwen Sebastian, Aaron Raitiere, Mia Devitry, and Carl Anderson pays off in spades. They each contribute to Rizzio’s tapestry of vision, a beautifully wide sound. Produced by Michael Rinne and recorded by Dylan Alldredge at Skinny Elephant Recording, this Sunshine Is Free sounds as bright and pretty as sunlight hitting a pretty surface.
