Kris’ last album ‘Five Stories’ was one of the best releases of 2001, a distinct singer/songwriter album that’s creative and edgy as well as being melodically and lyrically excellent – ‘Songs for a Hurricane’ is all this and much more, and looks likely to secure a place in many ‘best of 2003’ lists.
She has a more robust sound than most Boston area singer/songwriters, there’s an almost ‘live’ quality to many of the tracks – the slower material has an intimate feel and the more up-tempo songs have a ‘freeness’ to the playing not often heard in studio recordings.
There’s a good variety of instrumentation here including fiddle, cello and a variety of keyboards and guitars, as well as the full range of styles from solo acoustic through to full band tracks, but there’s a feeling of continuity running through the disc. This is accentuated by the way the tracks are sequenced, there’s a real flow to the 13 pieces and after repeated plays the songs become bound to the tracks either side of them in the running order.
‘Five Stories’ excelled mainly because of it’s excellent slower songs, but on this album the highlights come from a wider range of styles – ‘Hurricane’ is the pick of the album, a fantastic piece with great lyrics and melody that builds into a ‘full-on’ band instrumental passage, other excellent songs are ‘Bobby Lee’ a one of three tracks with distinctive guitar work from Mark Erelli, and ‘East of the Mountains’ a lyrically strong song of jealousy and separated lovers.
‘Songs for a Hurricane’ is an exceptional disc, and one that offers fans of singer/songwriters something a little different from the norm – comparisons with artists such as Patty Griffin and Dar Williams are valid, but there’s much more of an instrumental edge to many of the songs, combining this with consistently strong lyrics and melodies makes for an album of real quality and depth. Recommended.

£13.49