Kate Tucker & The Sons Of Sweden

I'm going to start by coming right out and saying I like Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden's self-titled debut album which came out earlier this week. I really do. I want to disclose that first to make sure it's clear before I tell you anything else. Kate's voice in front of the band is wonderfully delicate, even vulnerable at times. You can tell it's got a sweet soothing tone to it (which reminds me of Nina Gordon) that begs the listener to be mesmerized by it. Now I get to the part that made me offer my disclosure up front.

On the first listen, it's hard to connect to that voice which is struggling to pull you in. While listening, you're left feeling a little detached, as if she's on the other side of a big room and you're snatching the echoes of her true voice drifting into your ears. Almost as if the tracks have been touched up just one more time than they should have.

Until the final track that is, appropriately titled In the End. That one track is enough to convince me that her voice really deserves to be listened to. It's a track that very much reminds me of The Last Town Chorus both in tone as well as instrumentation (it includes what sounds like a lap steel guitar - Megan Hickey's trademark instrument). It's genuine enough, full of enough emotion, offering a real connection, that you want to listen to the rest of the album again. And going back through the album a second time you start to connect those pieces of Kate opening up her heart to you.

Again I'll tell you, I like this album and it's one I'm going to continue to listen to. But her next album...that's the one that I'm already looking forward to. In the meantime, I'm going to catch glimpses of Kate flitting here and there in this album and not complain a bit.



Kate Tucker & The Sons Of Sweden - In The End (feat. Damien Jurado) : Kate Tucker & The Sons Of Sweden

Kate Tucker & The Sons Of Sweden - Faster Than Cars Drive : Kate Tucker & The Sons Of Sweden

Visit their website, their label Red Valise Records, and become their friend on MySpace.

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Nina Gordon - Nobody's Fool (Cinderella cover) : original version from Cinderella's album Night Songs

The Last Town Chorus - Wire Waltz : Wire Waltz