Three Chords and the Truth UK

  On his seventh studio album, Sam Lewis almost presses the reset button and heads back to the raw domain of the stripped back song. Across nine original lyrical compositions, the light shines inwards exposing the skeletal status of country-folk songwriting. EVERYTHING’S FINE eventually gets up to full complement with an instrumental and a cover to propel an album with nothing to hide and everything to gain. From this vulnerable position, Lewis draws upon immense writing chops presenting a package hooking in a listener for a rewarding thirty-plus minutes.  Assigning John Prine as a comparison can be an exaggerated superlative but on two occasions you could be forgiven for sensing the presence of the maestro. Opening track ‘ Chase the Moon ’ possess a killer melody, is ripe with metaphors and meticulously strummed. Any similarity to the aforementioned legend is coincidental… or not. Later in the album, ‘ Making It Up ’ evokes a similar effect albeit with a little more pace....

  Vibes freely flow. Words intuitively swirl. Sounds sweetly melt. Katherine Priddy leans on all the assets at her disposal to conjure a record of serious magnitude. Tossing a poetic instinct into an esteemed pot of musicians brews a stunning concoction of songs steering through personal change and insightful musings. Across ten tracks folk sensibilities court contemporary trappings dealing a sound purring with creative delight. THESE FRIGHTENED MACHINES buries itself into your psyche, inviting you to wallow in warm lyrical waters and bask in the sensuous mesmeric sounds. A single play piques the interest; multiple plays smooth the way for a keeper to bed in. Momentum for Birmingham-based Priddy has been building over the last couple of years. Gentle evolution across subsequent albums accrued growth on numerous platforms with this latest effort accelerating the pace of progression. Released on Cooking Vinyl Records puts Priddy in fine company and affords opportunity to explore past...