Lovers of country and folk, gather! Eliza Mary Doyle’s latest album is sure a collection of beautiful, soulful, and stunningly sung and performed songs that ought to satisfy all the needs of lovers of this type of music.
A native of the beautiful town of Saskatoon, Canada, Eliza Mary Doyle’s roots lie firmly in the grassy earth of North American traditional folk and country music, and her JUNO award for playing with The Dead South is a testament to her talent. Her songwriting is nuanced and engaging and her banjo playing is, trying not to exaggerate, virtuosic and compelling. Pretty Strange, her latest full-length release, is an authentic folk country album. 10 beautiful songs long, Pretty Strange goes across the spectrum from the most cheerful rockabilly to stunning, driving folk.
7 Dude Ranch starts the album with a memorable guitar riff, backed with Doyle’s warm banjo and her sublime vocals and lyrics. One thing that is extremely prominent throughout the album is Eliza’s vocal delivery and its dry, up-front placement in the mix, achieving stunning results, making her singing sound consistently intimate and personal, and giving the feeling of catching Eliza singing those songs live, in a warm, cozy pub. Acting Strange is melancholic and features stunning vocal harmonies. The wailing guitars of the previous song are replaced by a wailing fiddle, gentle banjo picking, and a driving rhythm that soothes the aching heart, with Eliza’s hauntingly gorgeous croons ever present in the forefront. The lead guitar sings some terrific phases, starting a trend in which guitars sound so sweet they are almost edible.
Fight The War has a driving rhythm and a comforting drive. Hypnotic and beautiful musically, Doyle’s voice and delivery are also warm and home-like with more intricate harmony work. Red Dress’s motif sounds familiar and cozy, like a long, warm hug, and it helps that the guitars sound pristine and are perfectly delivered, with more gentle, lulling rhythms that could rock me to sleep. Runnin’ features an unforgettable picking-up in the tempo in the choruses, along with a fantastically written vocal harmony part that I’m sure will keep me returning to this song time and again. The song also features a lead guitar duet that has some of the nicest, most effortless, musical, and entertaining guitar playing in my entire memory. Natural, flowing, and spontaneous lick after another, this instrumental break kept me at the edge of my seat.
Eliza Mary Doyle’s Pretty Strange is actually not that at all. This album is extremely accessible and fun for a massive range of audiences, thanks to Eliza’s relatable stories, her iconic and sweet voice, her nuanced songwriting, and thanks to the consistent quality of performances across instruments and of production throughout the entirety of the album. Pretty Strange is a stunning album that would make an absolutely easy recommendation.