Over the past 9 years we’ve carried a handful albums that have proved to be breakthrough discs for artists (the early discs from Lori McKenna & Josh Ritter spring to mind). ‘Come Up Full’ has a similar feel to these discs, and, given a fair wind, there’s every chance that this superb album from Meg Hutchinson could well reach out to a wide audience.
Produced by Crit Harmon (who also produced McKenna, Mary Gauthier, Martin Sexton), the disc is lyric-driven folk, it’s very much an obvious Boston area singer/songwriter disc, but the quality of the songs and production make it stand out from the pack.
Meg has weathered edge to her story-telling style, it’s a combination of the honest lyrics and the unique delivery – she has a distinct alto that is warm and easy to enjoy, the perfect instrument for a singer/songwriter.
‘Come Up Full’ is an album with an underlying theme of finding a good outcome when you would least expect it, the title track is a beautiful poem about the fishermen and the hope of a good catch, and ‘Seeing Stars’ and ‘Ready’ are lyrically rich songs of optimism that stand out.
The backing is subtle and relatively low-key, Meg’s guitar style is rhythmic and suits her vocal delivery perfectly; the remainder of the backing has bass, percussion, keyboards and accordion - it’s all beautifully constructed to give the vocals and lyrics the centre stage.
This is a singer/songwriter album of the highest quality – great songs and performances and the consistency is there throughout the 12 tracks. Those with an interest in the genre should put this at the top of their list.

Track listing
1 Ready
2 Home
3 Whole Bird
4 Good Day to Die
5 America (Enough)
6 Seeing Stars
7 I'd Like to Know
8 Climbing Mountains
9 Somewhere
10 Song for Jeffrey Lucey
11 Come Up Full
12 Can You Tell Me

£12.99