I’ve been a fan of Colter Wall since a friend of mine introduced me to his eponymous album, “Colter Wall.” That collection had some very strong songs like Kate McCannon and Bald Butte. And in general, that was a big album. This month I got ahold of his album called “Little Songs.” And that is surely an honest title. The longest title clocks in at 4:32 and the shortest is 2:25. And more than that, none of these songs is big in its impact. They’re quiet, almost subdued.
They’re of the western genre in the country/western alliance and they have the understated manner of the modest inhabitants of the Great Plains, especially the northern expanse of the plains in Canada where Colter Wall hails from. We hear about ranchers and cowboys and farmers and their work and their romances and their blues. But there’s no shouting unless you count a little yodeling in one song.
So, this isn’t a collection to get you all stirred up. It’s quiet and small. I’m a fan of colter Wall so I’ll add these songs to my MP3 player and they’ll leaven my collection of country music with some of the softer notes that provide a counterweight to all the fussing’ and shouting’ that some of my other songs provide. Your mileage. of course, may vary.
I’ve listen to ‘Little Songs’ a couple of times in the past few days. The first thing that I noticed was the audio improvement compared to his last album. My second takeaway after two listens was that I like all the songs and the flow of the album. I don’t recall a standout cut yet, which gives me the feeling that there may not be one, but I don’t care about hits when I listen to Colter. I like the laid back peaceful honesty in his originals, and his covers are always carefully selected and originally performed. I do miss… Read more »
JT, thanks for your review. I’m going to give it a post of its own. And any time you want to provide a review, it is surely welcome on this site.