Loveland Review

Everything about this is a deliberate reset. New label, new co writers, a stated debt to the English guitar bands she grew up around, and a decision to put the vocal at the front instead of burying it in reverb. The gain is clarity. Back in Love is the best thing she has released, a proper single with a hook that does not apologise for itself, and there are two or three others here with the same directness.

The band sounds like a band, the drums have snap, and the arrangements have shed the wash that made the earlier albums blur. What has not changed is the writing. Across fourteen tracks the lyrics still deal in general feeling rather than specific detail, and with the vocals now audible there is nowhere for that to hide. The result is a much better made record that is easier to like and no easier to remember. A real step forward in craft, still waiting on the songs.