It’s a far, more pleasant cry from
the rough-worn, truth-saying voices of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie and
the usually sparse, simple arrangements that accompanied them.
Terra Lightfoot is one such contemporary. The artist from Waterdown Canada has also played with country band The Dinner Belles. Here we have her solo debut, which calls upon a lot of Americana influences, both in genre and artist. Nick Drake and Ani DiFranco immediately come to mind, listening to her eponymous debut.
However, the more rocking songs never reach high enough, hampered by a heavily muted distorted guitar, (“Sleep Away the Winter”), the poetry seems too lazy (“Straight Line” and “Heads, Tails, Tails”), and Lightfoot’s voice just never inspires the desire to continue listening. Plaintive and limited, it sounds like she recorded the vocals for this album from the comfort of a sofa.
And heck, opener “Straight Line” is literally about commuting to work. I listened to it while doing so and just felt more depressed. Stick with Fleet Foxes for richer, more engaging music, or check out Kathleen Edwards if Canadian female alt-country’s your thing.
