After last week's somewhat male-dominated selection, it's the turn of the ladies to shine. And yes, despite what some people might say - a transgender person who identifies as female is, as far as I'm concerned, female. So to anyone who wants to argue against one of these inclusions - don't bother; my blog, my rules and you're wrong!
EZRA FURMAN - 'All Of Us Flames'
While I've long been aware of Ezra, I've never really been grabbed by her music for some reason. All that changed this year with the release of her 9th (NINTH!) album, in particular the single Forever In Sunset which is right up there with my very fave songs of the year. It's a fascinating document of her fears and challenges - being a transgender, queer, Jewish woman - set to some of her most confident-sounding music to date.
KATY J. PEARSON - 'Sound Of The Morning'
Katy's second album continues the pop-folk sound of her debut, but with an extended pallette. She's branching out, though it's not obvious where she's going, so that's going to be a fun journey for those of us who love her. We caught her live in the autumn and she is every bit as good as a live perfromer as her records suggest. MrsRobster is a big fan of Talk Over Town, one of her fave songs of the year.
THE BETHS - 'Expert In A Dying Field'
This makes my rundown despite it being my least favourite record the Beths have put out to date. There's even a track I tend to skip on it. That said, the rest of it is strong enough to warrant inclusion as it seems whatever they do, they always manage to inbibe it with a great tune and excellent production (all their records are self-produced). I've already bought tickets for their Spring Tour next year.
THE BIG MOON - 'Here Is Everything'
Three albums in and the Big Moon are showing signs that they might just become rather huge in the not-too-distant future. Following their last record, Juliette Jackson had a baby and the result is an album reflecting on pregnancy, childbirth, fears, hope and unconditional love, though it's done in such a smart way that you can still take something completely different from each song.
PLAINS - 'I Walked With You A Ways'
You know how much I adore Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee), so I was eager to see what would result from her collaboration with a singer-songwriter I'm not familiar with, Jess Williamson. Fortunately, it's a gem. It's an unabashed, old-school country album, and a very good one. Both take lead vocals and songwriting duties, but they clearly work so well together, it seems such a shame they've already stated Plains is a one-off project. I'd love to hear what else they could come up with. Here's one of Katie's numbers.
Another five next week...
