|
| |
Mindy Smith
Long Island Shores
(Vanguard)
First Appeared in The Music Box, October 2006, Volume 13, #10
Written by John Metzger
There’s little doubt that Mindy Smith’s debut One Moment More
contained the spark of a star in the making, but the collection’s bucolic charm
largely was undermined by her incessant evangelizing as well as by her overly
pretty arrangements. In short, the set too frequently sounded like prepackaged
fodder for Nashville’s increasingly pop-oriented market. Although her latest
effort Long Island Shores boasts a similar stylistic amalgamation of
country, bluegrass, gospel, pop, and rock, Smith succeeds in striking a better
balance among her many influences. In trading some of her earthier tendencies
for feistier fare, she transformed the moody Gillian Welch-isms that marked
One Moment More’s highlights into the straightforward, adult-oriented rock
of Sheryl Crow. Yet, the result is far better than one initially might expect it
to be.
Although Long Island Shores retains the polished, radio-friendly sheen
of its predecessor, Smith’s delivery exudes more confidence, and her melodies —
from the buoyant What If the World Stops Turning?, which she charmingly
sings as a duet with Buddy Miller, to the jaunty, jazz- and soul-inflected
groove of You Know I Love You Baby — are both insistent and indelible.
Lyrically, too, Smith now demonstrates a greater presence, and instead of
playing the role of the soul-saving proselytizer, she tones down the rhetoric
and finds a seamless method of intertwining all things spiritual and corporeal.
Sin, redemption, love, and loss become so entangled that it’s hard to tell about
whom she is singing. No one is ever going to accuse Smith of undermining her
ability to appeal to a mass audience, but this time, the manner in which she
accomplishes her goal is far more effective.  ½
Long Island Shores is available from Amazon.com.
To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2006 The Music Box
|
