The first two songs on Canadian singer-songwriter Basia Bulat’s album Heart Of My Own are perfect examples of why I can never quite make up my mind about her music.
‘Go On’ has a more pronounced American folk feel than any of the songs on her debut album, but like those songs, it really feels like she’s playing with her backing band, not just tacking some strings and piano on to yet another acoustic guitar-driven mopefest. The drums and strings actually dominate the guitar, though Bulat’s distinctive deep and husky voice remains the centre of the song.
It’s a good song, but unfortunately it’s followed by ‘Run’, which has a depressingly Enya-like chorus and epitomises everything that just doesn’t sit right when I listen to Bulat’s music – she has proper indie cred, but there’s something about her music sometimes that calls middle-aged women to mind.
The album takes a while to pick up again, but the title track is great, a ballad of lost love with well-judged violin and banjo accents. ‘Sparrow’ is a pretty, ukulele-driven song, the equivalent of ‘Before I Knew’ from Bulat’s debut album but more airy and light.
The album is at its best with songs like ‘Heart Of My Own’ and ‘If Only You’, both with a strong undercurrent of country influence that stops well short of affected Nashville accents and slide guitar, the latter being an upbeat acoustic-driven song with horns and piano, and choruses which are a little dull while the verses are better.
Overall, though, it is a little lackluster. Most of the rest of the songs could have come off her first album, if it weren’t for the fact that they’re not as good.
An exception is ‘The Shore’, one of the most distinctive songs on the album, with a hammered dulcimer playing a big part (thank you, Wikipedia), but even so, it’s not that interesting a song.
It’s a shame that ‘Hush’, a bonus track exclusive to iTunes, isn’t officially on the album; it’s a lovely echoey a cappella track punctuated with foot stamps and hand claps.
Aside from a few good songs, then, the album is a bit disappointing.
