Norma MacDonald “The Forest For The Trees” (Independent, 2009)

Not the European Carton Makers Association nominee.

Now, is the use of lower case font for the CD credits (and her website) indicative of what to expect? That is, if artists can’t be grammatically correct, what does it say about them? Are they lazy, or is it merely ‘design’. In MacDonald’s case it seems to be the latter.

This is her sophomore album apparently; which in UK terms means her second record. But I suppose “sophomore” sounds “better”. But no matter. Irrespective of how it’s described in the PR blurb, it’s a mighty fine album.

Sounding not dissimilar to Lynn Miles, ECMA (the Canadian East Coast Music Association) nominee for “Female Solo Recording of the Year 2009”, MacDonald’s lyricism is stylish, laid back and laconic. Why use two words when one will do? Her voice is purity personified.

Covering a range of styles, ‘The Forest For The Trees’ is mellow, warm and uplifting. Just the kind of music to have on for the warm summer evenings ahead. Kicking off with ‘A Little Longer’ and finishing with ‘So Soundly’, this album simply oozes class. It’s one of those records, that when it finishes, you just want to press the play button again. So I did.

There is some lovely mandolin picking on ‘Long Shot’, great harmonies throughout the entire album and lots of vibrant pedal steel, particularly on ‘We’re Ghosts’, courtesy of Dale Murray, which brings to mind Miles’ circa the ‘Slightly Haunted’ era.

I can’t pick the stand out tracks as they’re all excellent. They follow each other, and merge and meld into one another and flow in a collective way; like all good albums should.

Date review added:  Sunday, April 05, 2009
Reviewer:  Phil Edwards
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  Norma MacDonald website