Frazey Ford

If you like the Be Good Tanyas, you’re going to like Frazey Ford’s first solo album. And if you’ve never heard of the Be Good Tanyas, you might want to check out that lovely bunch of Canadian singer/songwriters whose sound owes a lot to the distinctive qualities of Ford’s voice. She sings with a vocal quaver, and it’s a sound I like, though I can see how it might grate on some listeners. There’s always a little ache in it, even in the songs that are upbeat or celebratory, and that seems just about right to me because even the things that give us the most joy are all shadowed by loss. So I hear in Ford’s songs an aural representation of that element of human experience. When she unleashes that sense of loss on a song like “If You Gonna Go,” you feel an authenticity of emotion that can’t be found in a dozen pop songs that address the same experience. Reviewers seldom mention the cover art on albums, but I was drawn to this album not only because I like her voice, but also because the cover engaged me, and it nicely represents what’s inside—a little country, a lot of mystery, and an appeal to the things that are close to the heart, and to the earth.